There is a famous saying: “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” (see Naples and die). After three days of losing myself in its narrow, alleyway laced heart, I get it. Naples doesn’t ask for your attention; it demands all of your senses.

It’s a city constructed like a geological site of art and history, where centuries literally sit on top of one another. Naples is Caravaggio’s city in spirit. He fled there in the early 1600s after committing a murder in Rome, and the city’s intense contrast of harsh shadows and piercing sunlight bled directly into his work. You feel that exact same drama walking down every street in Centro Storico, the light cutting through tall, grand palazzi straight onto laundry lines and crumbling plaster below. Continue Reading…