The Royal Palace - Naples Underground - Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso

Route: Naples - The Royal Palace - Naples Underground - Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso
Duration: 5 h
Our first stop we will make at the the Royal Palace of Naples, which was built in the 1600s for Philip III, like one of the four residencies of the Bourbon dynasty of Naples. As you stroll up the grand staircase and into historical apartments and the Throne Room (among some 45 rooms), you'll be blown away by the marble, the frescoes, the furniture, the paintings, the chandeliers... all the trappings of majestic life. Explore this Royal Palace and see the Court Theater, the Throne Room, the Maria Cristina Hall of Savoy and the Royal Chapel. See Bourbon art pieces by the likes of Guercino, Andrea Vaccaro, Mattia Preti, Massimo Stanzione and more. Walk the Royal Gardens and soak up incredible views of the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius. Next we will go to forty meters below the characteristic and lively streets of the Historic Center of Naples, where  you find a different world, unexplored, isolated by time, but deeply connected with the world above. It’s the heart of Naples, and the place from which the city was born. To visit it is to travel to the past, a world 2400 years old.  Our underground tour will begin from the Greek-Roman Aqueduct. Going down 136 steps, low and comfortable, we will reach a depth of about 40 meters below ground, where we will visit few of the tuffaceous cavities excavated in the Greek era (IV centuries BC.), and exploited as cisterns for the water supply of Naples for approximately 23 centuries. Next we will visit the remains of the Roman Theater. We will walk into a typical Neapolitan house, commonly called “low”, because it is located at street level of the city. Once inside, just open a hatch underneath a bed for access to the remains of the ancient theater of Neapolis, where the emperor Nero also had his private dressing room, whenever he performed his shows in Naples. There we also visit to the Summa Cavea where you  see  an old carpentry in which there is a permanent exhibition of “Scarabattoli” (glass kiosk exhibiting images and sacred objects XVII cen.) to preserve the nativity scenes and the popular manger. Next we will visit two catacombs like the Catacombs of San Gennaro and the Catacombs of San Gaudioso. The first part of the catacomb was built between the 4th and 5th century AD. The Catacombs of San Gennaro are arrange on two levels that are not superimposed, both characterised by much larger spaces than the more famous Roman catacombs. The original nucleus of the Catacombs of San Gennaro dates back to the 2nd century AD. It was probably the tomb of a noble family, who then provided spaces for the Christian community. The expansion began in the 4th century AD following the deposition of the remains of St. Agrippinus, the first patron of Naples, to the underground basilica dedicated to him. It consists of a single nave dug out of the tuff, which still preserves a bishop's chair carved into the rock and the altar with an opening, in which the faithful could see and touch the saint's tomb. The Catacombs of San Gaudioso are the second largest in Naples, and includes both early Christian and 17th century elements. The entrance is inside the Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità, beneath the main altar.
Price: per person