Spaccanapoli, explained

Spaccanapoli is the lower decumanus of Roman Neapolis and the plateia of the Greek city: a straight line of about two kilometres that runs from west to east through the historic centre of Naples, doesn’t appear on any street sign, has no entrance ticket, and owes its nickname to the view from above, where it seems to split the city in two.

I worked for years in a bookshop on via San Biagio dei Librai, and the question I heard most was asked by people who were already walking on it: excuse me, where is Spaccanapoli? It’s not that they’re absent-minded. It’s the street that doesn’t introduce itself.

Why it seems like you haven’t found it

Spaccanapoli is a popular nickname, and nicknames don’t end up on street signs. Walking east, the same street is called via Pasquale Scura, via Benedetto Croce, via San Biagio dei Librai, via Vicaria Vecchia, via Forcella, via Giudecca Vecchia, via Ottavio Tupputi. Seven names for a single straight line. The name archaeologists use is lower decumanus: one of the three parallel axes of the ancient centre, with the major, which is now via dei Tribunali, and the superior, around via dell’Anticaglia. The grid they form is traced back to the Hippodamian model: here you go straight, or you cut perpendicularly.

How long it really is

From one end to the other it’s about two kilometres. The stretch worth walking is however shorter: from piazza del Gesù Nuovo to via Duomo it’s just over a kilometre, and at a slow pace, without going inside anywhere, it takes about half an hour, which isn’t a whole day: the day is needed if you open the doors. The historic centre of Naples has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995 and is the largest in Italy, about 17 km², of which about 10.2 in the protected area.

What opens onto the street

You start from piazza del Gesù Nuovo, with the spire of the Immacolata and the diamond-pointed piperno façade that was the palace of the Sanseverino princes, from 1470. A little further on is the Santa Chiara complex: the fourteenth-century basilica wanted by Roberto d’Angiò, and the maiolica cloister, covered with riggiole by Donato and Giuseppe Massa between 1739 and 1742. The cloister has a paid entrance, separate from the church.

Then piazza San Domenico Maggiore, where Tommaso d’Aquino taught in the convent and Giordano Bruno studied. A few steps away, in via Francesco de Sanctis, is the Sansevero Chapel: the Veiled Christ was sculpted by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753, after the death of Antonio Corradini in 1752, and in the underground cavea are the two anatomical machines, traditionally attributed to Giuseppe Salerno around 1763. All commissioned by Raimondo di Sangro, seventh prince of Sansevero. Timed entry, small rooms, no photography inside. Further on is piazzetta Nilo, with the statue of the Nile god that here is called the Corpo di Napoli, and next to it Sant’Angelo a Nilo. On the sides are the Marigliano, Filomarino palaces, where Benedetto Croce lived, and Pinelli.

What’s free and what isn’t

The street isn’t paid for. It’s public, open at any time, partly pedestrian, even though scooters still pass. You pay for the interiors, each with its own ticket: the cloister of Santa Chiara, the Sansevero Chapel, the underground. And you pay for the guide, if you want one. When comparing two tours I don’t look first at the price, but at how many entrances they include, whether there are tastings, whether the format is group or private: those are the things that affect the total, and the updated price is on the booking box. The rest is in how much it costs.

When to go

Morning, almost always. In summer at midday the street is narrow and shadeless. From early November to 6 January via San Gregorio Armeno is shoulder-to-shoulder, so better early or on a weekday. In the rain the basalt paving becomes slippery. Also: many churches close at midday, roughly between half past twelve and half past four, and require covered shoulders and knees. If your plan includes three churches between one and three, the plan needs reworking.

The mistake I hear most often

First: via San Gregorio Armeno is not Spaccanapoli. It is the cross street that connects via dei Tribunali perpendicularly to the lower decumanus, and it is the street of the nativity scene workshops, which operate all year round and not just at Christmas. The church was founded around 930 on a temple dedicated to Ceres and was named after San Gregorio Armeno only in 1205; the bell tower spans the street like a bridge between the two convents. Second: the Quartieri Spagnoli are another area, uphill from via Toledo, on the opposite side of the decumanus, created in the sixteenth century as housing for Spanish garrisons. From piazza del Gesù to via Toledo is just a few minutes' walk, and the confusion arises from there.

Get there, and then look at it from afar

Metro Line 1 serves the entire stretch: Dante at the western end, where you get off for Port’Alba, then Museo, Università and Duomo; Montesanto and Cavour remain nearby. From Naples Centrale, take Line 1 to Duomo or Università, or walk about twenty minutes along corso Umberto I. And if you want to understand where the name comes from, go up: the Montesanto funicular to Morghen, then the Certosa di San Martino and the belvedere. From there, the line is visible in its entirety.

Do you need a guide?

For walking, no: you can walk just fine on your own. But inside a chapel where every statue is a deliberately constructed enigma, without someone to explain, you just look. A two-and-a-half-hour guided tour combines the narrative and the entrances, and saves you from discovering at the ticket office that today the cloister is not included in your time slot. If you have little time, take only the short visit to the Cappella Sansevero; if you walk slowly, a private tour is better. Which one suits you, without beating around the bush, is in is it worth it.

Booking a guide

If, after reading all this, you’d like someone to show you around on the spot, the most popular tour of the historic centre starts at piazza del Gesù Nuovo and includes the key sights. You can check availability and updated prices below, or look at all tours compared and our reviews.

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