Certosa di San Martino and Castel Sant'Elmo
The finest view over the gulf from the Vomero
On the top of the Vomero hill, reached by funicular from the centre, stand two monuments side by side. Castel Sant'Elmo is a star-shaped fortress of the sixteenth century, built by the Spanish viceroys to control the city; from its ramparts you enjoy the most complete panorama of Naples, from Vesuvius to the islands, with the straight line of Spaccanapoli cutting through the old town below.
Just below lies the Certosa di San Martino, a Carthusian monastery founded in the fourteenth century and transformed into a masterpiece of the Neapolitan baroque. The church is a riot of marble, paintings and inlay; the great cloister has a small monks' cemetery with marble skulls. The monastery houses the Museo di San Martino, with the history of Naples, a gallery of carriages and the extraordinary Presepe Cuciniello, a huge eighteenth century nativity with hundreds of figures.
Tip: take the Montesanto or Centrale funicular; the terraced gardens of the Certosa, the Quarto del Priore, offer a view as beautiful as the castle's.
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