The Catacombs of San Gennaro and the Sanità Quarter

Beneath the hill of Capodimonte lies the largest early-Christian burial site in southern Italy, dug into the soft yellow tufa between the second and the tenth centuries. The Catacombs of San Gennaro, where the patron saint of Naples was once buried, open onto two levels of galleries, basilicas and chambers painted with some of the oldest Christian frescoes in the city.

The visit is led by the young guides of La Paranza, a cooperative born in the Rione Sanità, the district below. Over the past twenty years their work has reopened the catacombs and turned one of the most overlooked neighbourhoods of Naples into a place people come to see.

Afterwards, the Sanità is worth exploring on foot, with its baroque palaces and its famous pastry shops.