Naples

Naples ( NAY-pəlz; Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ; Neapolitan: Napule [ˈnɑːpələ]) is the regional capital of Campania, southern Italy. With a population of 905,050 within the city's administrative limits as of 2026, it is the largest city in southern Italy and the third-largest city in Italy after Rome and Milan, while its province-level municipality is the third most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 2,954,847 residents – or the second largest according to OECD data. Its metropolitan area, the seventh most populous in the European Union, has a population of approximately 4.4 million and stretches beyond the boundaries of the city proper for approximately 30 kilometres (20 miles). Naples also plays a key role in international diplomacy, being home to NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Naples and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean. Founded by the Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the eighth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope (Ancient Greek: Παρθενόπη) was established on the Pizzofalcone hill. In the sixth century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society, and has been a significant international cultural centre ever since with particular reference to the development of the arts. Naples served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples (661–1139), subsequently as the capital of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1816), and finally as the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies — until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples is also considered a capital of the Baroque, beginning with the artist Caravaggio's career in the 17th century and the artistic revolution he inspired. It was also an important centre of humanism...