Explorer Naples

Piazza del Plebiscito is a large pedestrian square in central Naples, named after the plebiscite of 21 October 1860 that joined Naples to the Kingdom of Italy. The Royal Palace closes its east side, and the church of San Francesco di Paola with its curved colonnade the west; two equestrian statues of Bourbon kings stand before the church.

San Francesco di Paola is a basilica on the west side of Piazza del Plebiscito, built in 1816–1846 to designs by Pietro Bianchi and modelled on the Pantheon in Rome. A portico of six columns stands before the round church and its 53-metre dome, flanked by the curved colonnade planned under Joachim Murat.

Galleria Umberto I is a covered shopping arcade built in 1887–1890 to designs by Emanuele Rocco, across the street from the Teatro di San Carlo. Four wings vaulted in iron and glass meet in a cross under a glass dome 57 metres high, with shops and cafés at street level and apartments on the upper floor.

Gesù Nuovo is a Jesuit church on Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, built in 1584–1601 by Giuseppe Valeriano inside the palace that Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, had built in 1470. It kept the palace's façade of grey piperno stone cut into diamond-shaped points; inside are coloured marble chapels and frescoes by Francesco Solimena.

Naples Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Naples, a Gothic church begun under Charles I of Anjou and completed in the early 14th century; its façade was reworked in neo-Gothic style in the late 19th century. Inside are the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, the early Christian basilica of Santa Restituta and a 4th-century baptistery.