After winning its fourth national football championship and with the America’s Cup coming in 2027, Naples is transforming into an irresistible mix of celebration, innovation, and urban renewal.
While the spotlight shines on the Bagnoli area and smart mobility projects, a hidden Naples awaits discovery.
1. The Baroque Staircase of Palazzo Sanfelice: Architecture in Motion
In the heart of the Rione Sanità, nestled among historic buildings and laundry drying in the sun, lies one of Italy’s most scenic staircases: the staircase of Palazzo Sanfelice.
Curves, arches, and ramps intertwine in a perfect play of perspective: a Baroque masterpiece that feels straight out of an Escher drawing. It’s no surprise that it has served as a backdrop for several films and remains one of Naples’ most beautiful hidden gems.
2. The Dolls’ Hospital: A One-of-a-Kind Workshop
It’s not a museum, not a shop, and not even an ordinary workshop. The Dolls’ Hospital is a unique place where broken dolls are brought back to life. A truly unique laboratory, founded in the 1800s, suspended between magic and nostalgia, where porcelain, papier-mâché, and wooden parts wait to be restored to life.
3. Underground Naples: The Adventure Beneath Your Feet
Underground Naples is a labyrinth of tunnels, cisterns, and shelters carved into tuff rock, telling 2,400 years of history. A journey through underground passageways, ancient Greek-Roman aqueducts, and atmospheric galleries. Claustrophobics, be warned: it’s an intense experience, but pure wonder.
4. Palazzo Mannajuolo: Art Deco Elegance of a Spiral Staircase
In early 20th-century Art Nouveau Naples, there’s a building that looks like it came straight out of an Art Deco dream. Palazzo Mannajuolo, elegant on the outside and spectacular within, hides a helical staircase that seems to soar toward the sky, surrounded by flowing lines and floral details.
The perspective, the light, the curves: get your smartphone ready to capture it.
5. Toledo Metro Station: A Subway Jewel of Contemporary Art
Forget the usual grey, crowded metro stations. Toledo metro station, one of the award-winning “Art Stations” built by the Webuild Group, is a journey into blue: mosaic-covered walls, lights that descend like you’re deep underwater, and a psychedelic tunnel that feels straight out of a contemporary art museum.
It’s been called “the most beautiful metro station in the world,” and once you’re there, you’ll see they weren’t wrong.
