From above it is a perfect cleft splitting the ancient city in two: Spaccanapoli is the Greeks' lower decumanus, a dead-straight line of two and a half thousand years threading churches, palaces, workshops and life like beads on a string. The historic centre it crosses, Europe's largest, has been UNESCO-listed since 1995 — and it is alive, loud and inhabited like no other monumental site on earth.
What to see
The Sansevero chapel with the Veiled Christ, marble that seems to breathe beneath its shroud; the majolica cloister of Santa Chiara, a garden of yellow and blue ceramics; the diamond-point façade of the Gesù Nuovo; and San Gregorio Armeno, the nativity-scene street where figurines are carved all year round. Every hundred metres, a sfogliatella or a folded street pizza demands a stop.
Visiting
A full day, on foot and unhurried: the Veiled Christ wants booking in busy periods, Santa Chiara has its own ticket. The right method is losing yourself with judgement: Spaccanapoli's spine always puts you back on course.
Getting there
Metro line 1, "Dante" or "Università" stops, then feet. From Piazza del Gesù the cleft is entered and never lets go until Via Duomo and beyond.
Our editors' tip
Climb at sunset to San Martino or Castel Sant'Elmo on the Vomero hill: from up there the "split" shows whole, a slash of shadow across the lighting-up city. It is the only way to truly understand where you walked all day.