Museums and galleries in Naples

Museums and galleries in Naples

1. See

   Castel Sant'Elmo

   A huge, imposing hilltop medieval fortress, providing outlooks to the surrounding city and hosting a small art gallery. Great place to watch the sunset behind Ischia and Procida.

   5€

2. See

   Certosa e Museo di San Martino

   A former monastery complex, now a museum. It is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill that commands the gulf. A Carthusian monastery, it was finished and inaugurated under the rule of Queen Joan I in 1368. In 1623, it was further expanded and became, under the direction of architect Cosimo Fanzago, essentially the structure one sees today. In the early 19th century, under French rule the monastery was closed and was abandoned by the religious order. Today, the buildings house a museum with a display of Spanish and Bourbon era artifacts, as well as displays of the presepe (Nativity scene) considered to be among the finest in the world.

3. See

   Complesso monumentale dei Girolamini

   Ecclesiastic complex comprising a gallery of paintings, a cloister, a library of thousands of ancient manuscripts, and a baroque church.

   €5 with reductions, free on first Sunday of the month

4. See

   Galleria Umberto I

   A public shopping gallery that is directly across from the San Carlo opera house. It was designed by Emanuele Rocco, who employed modern architectural elements reminiscent of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. The Galleria was meant to combine businesses, shops, cafes and social life — public space — with private space in the apartments on the third floor.

5. See

   Museum of Contemporary Art Donnaregina

   MADRE

   Very nice museum for contemporary art, with a permanent collection of fascinating, small room installations and temporary exhibitions.

   Mon Wed-Sat 10:00-19:30, Sun 10:00-20:00·€ 4

6. See

   Naples National Archeological Museum

   Museo archeologico nazionale di Napoli, MANN

   The most important Italian archaeological museum about Roman civilization, it contains a large collection of Roman artifacts from Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum. The collection includes works of the highest quality produced in Greek, Roman and Renaissance times.

   Wed-Mon 09:00-19:30·€20, free with Artecard and on the first Sunday of month, for visitors below 18 years of age or with disability.

7. See

   National railway Museum of Pietrarsa

   Museo nazionale ferroviario di Pietrarsa

   A museum housed in the ancient 19th century's Bourbon Factories, along the route of the first railway in Italy: the Napoli-Portici line. Here is possible to admire a large variety of rolling stock like steam locomotives and different periods' carriages.

8. See

   Neapolis Sotterrata

   Presents ruins of a former Roman market - shops and the like. In addition, entrance to the surrounding museum and chapels is included.

9. See

   Palazzo Zevallos

   Palazzo Colonna di Stigliano

   Elegant palace built in 1639 by the noble Spanish family Zevallos. It houses a rich art gallery comprising sculptures and paintings from 17th to 19th century, some of them realized by artists of the School of Posillipo.

   Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat Sun 10:00-20:00·€12 full; €3 reduced

10. See

    Palazzo delle Arti

    PAN

    A civic museum born as a public exhibition center for the civic collections of arts, and to host art and culture events organized by the City of Naples.

    Mon Wed-Sat 09:30-19:30, Sun 09:30-14:30·Free entry

11. See

    Royal Palace and National Museum of Capodimonte

    Hosts paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries, including major works by Simone Martini, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli, Lorenzo Lotto, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgio Vasari, El Greco, Jacob Philipp Hackert. It also hosts the works of the most important Neapolitan painters, like Jusepe de Ribera, Luca Giordano, the Neapolitan Caravaggisti.

    Closed · opens 8:30 am tomorrow·€10 for adult, €2 for EU citizens aged 18-25, €6.50 after 14:00, free with Artecard.

12. See

    Santa Chiara

    A religious complex which includes the Church of Santa Chiara, a monastery, tombs, and an archaeological museum. The double monastic complex was built in 1313-1340 by Queen Sancha of Majorca and her husband King Robert of Naples. The original church was in traditional Provençal-Gothic style, but was decorated in the 1744 century in Baroque style by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. Santa Chiara was the largest Clarissan church ever built, and it was the first Clarissan church built where the nuns in their choir would have been able to view the performance of Mass. The bell tower, separated from the main edifice, was begun in 1328 but was completed only in Renaissance times. The simple interior houses the tomb of King Robert and, in the side chapels, those of the Bourbon king of Naples, Francis II and his consort Maria Sophie of Bavaria, as well as of Queen Maria Christina of Savoy and of the national hero Salvo d'Acquisto (a carabiniere who sacrificed his own life to save the lives of 22 civilian hostages at the time of the Nazi occupation). Famous is the cloister of the Clarisses, transformed in 1742 by Vaccaro with the addition of precious majolica tiles in Rococò style. The Nuns' Choir houses fragments of frescoes by Giotto.

    Mon-Fri 09:30-17:30, Sat Sun 10:00-14:30

13. See

    Villa Pignatelli

    A former luxurious residence and a small park. Also a quite interesting museum of horse carriage vehicles and other horse equipment.

14. See Not mapped

    LAPIS Museum - Museo dell'Acqua Napoli

    In the catacombs below the Santa Maria Maggiore della Pietrasanta church, the self-proclaimed "first water museum" can be visited. Guided tours in English are available for groups of at least 10 people and last about 75 minutes.

    Closed · opens 8 am tomorrow·10€ entry

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Naples (CC BY-SA 4.0).