Tradition

Stories and legends between Mergellina and Posillipo

The enchantment of the land stretching from the islet of Megaride to Posillipo is reflected in the legends that 'run through' the city. In Piedigrotta, history and popular beliefs overlap in the Crypta neapolitana, a mysterious tunnel linking Naples to Pozzuoli, 'created' in a single night by the magician Virgil; in the church of Santa Maria di Piedigrotta, devotion to the Madonna gives rise to a fable; not far away, the Lion Fountain recalls the unusual friendship of a prince. And on the sea front, Mergellina, the hub of the city's entertainment for summer afternoons and evenings, with its bars and famous chalets, contains in its name the story of an impossible love. The poet and humanist Jacopo Sannazaro lived and wrote here in the 16th century, and his verses inspired the church of Santa Maria del Parto, whose altar contains a 'diabolical' painting. The Fountain of the Sebeto, dedicated to the lost river of Naples, marks the beginning of Posillipo. The sea route continues along the coast along the road that climbs up the hill, a favourite natural paradise from ancient times to the present, a land of myths and fabulous stories. Palazzo Donn'Anna tells of love and crimes, the Coccovàja fountain whispers of magic potions and evil spells, the Villa degli Spiriti at Marechiaro evokes ghost stories amidst the archaeological evidence of an amazing villa. A protected marine area and home to the Pausylipon and Submerged Archaeological Park, according to tradition, Gaiola is the kingdom of the magician Virgil, who introduced his pupils to the dark arts in a famous School of Magic. Nisida, a small volcanic island that was a place of delights in the past, recalls a desperate love and the crimes of Barbary pirates.

Number of stages
12
Overall length
30.3 KM
Average journey time
19 Hours
Recommended mean of transport
Public Transport

Itinerary map

 

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Itinerary stages

Step number 1
1
Crypta Neapolitana

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Crypta Neapolitana

At Piedigrotta, in the Parco Vergiliano, is the entrance to the oldest tunnel connecting Naples and Pozzuoli. Excavated entirely from tufa rock, it is 705 metres long, 4.50 metres wide and about 5 ...

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Step number 2
2
Convento di Santa Maria di Piedigrotta

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Convento di Santa Maria di Piedigrotta

It dates back to the 14th century, but was rebuilt and restored several times until 1853. Since the Middle Ages, the wooden statue of the Madonna di Piedigrotta (1320-30) on the high altar has been...

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Step number 3
3
Mergellina

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Mergellina

Described as "a place so delightful that it perhaps has no equal in Europe", it is the ideal place to stay during the summer season. Before the urban development of the seafront, the beach stretche...

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Step number 4
4
Chiesa di Santa Maria del Parto

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Chiesa di Santa Maria del Parto

Together with a villa and a tower, it is built on land that King Frederick of Aragon donated in 1499 to the great humanist Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530). The poet named the church after Santa Maria ...

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Step number 5
5
Lion Fountain

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Lion Fountain

The tuffaceous hill behind the coast of Santa Lucia and Mergellina, once rich in springs, supplied some of the town's fountains, and the water from the Fonte del Leone spring, known as the Mergogli...

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Step number 6
6
Sebeto Fountain

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Sebeto Fountain

It was moved to Largo Sermoneta, just before the street leading up to the Posillipo hill, at the end of the numerous urban development projects begun in the 19th century to build the new seafront. ...

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Step number 7
7
Donn’Anna Palace

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Donn’Anna Palace

The work of Baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago (1642) is named after Anna Carafa di Stigliano, wife of the viceroy Filippo Gúzman de las Torres. The tufa cliff overlooking the sea was worked o...

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Step number 8
8
Coccovàja or Enchantment Fountain

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Coccovàja or Enchantment Fountain

At the centre of the gardens dedicated to Salvatore di Giacomo (1860-1934), the Coccovàja fountain was a public fountain in the 16th century in the street of Porto, rebuilt in 1834 and moved...

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Step number 9
9
Villa degli Spiriti

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Villa degli Spiriti

It is part of the Pausilypon Archaeological Park and the Gaiola Underwater Park, and is one of the structures of the grandiose Pausylipon complex, the villa-city of Publius Vedio Pollione, which gi...

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Step number 10
10
Gaiola

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Gaiola

This is the lonely and wild stretch of the Posillipo coast, the legendary land of Greek and Virgilian myths, a collection of tufa caves, inlets, small coves and a beach, a unique setting of sea and...

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Step number 11
11
Posillipo

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Posillipo

Favoured by the ancient Romans, it was only between the 16th and 17th centuries that Posillipo, the hill "where troubles cease", became part of the city's fabric, with the construction of the first...

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Step number 12
12
Nisida

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Nisida

At Posillipo, at the end of the Coroglio descent, a bridge-dam over a stretch of sea about 300 metres long joins the island to the mainland. Called Nesis (small island) by the Greeks and a place of...

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Other points of interest nearby

Achille 2015
Napoli Street
Lungomare Caracciolo
Napoli Other
Virgiliano Park
Napoli Park or garden of historical or artistic interest
Piazza dei Martiri
Napoli Street
Villa Comunale
Napoli Park or garden of historical or artistic interest
Park of Villa Floridiana
Napoli Park or garden of historical or artistic interest
Vergigliano Park
Napoli Park or garden of historical or artistic interest