‘O SOLE MIO

As you disembark your cruise ship in Sorrento, meet your private driver and set off for Naples.

Resting on the edge of a sun-kissed bay, in the shadow of mighty Mount Vesuvius, Naples is a vibrant seaport with thousands of years of history waiting to be explored. Its street plan, based on the ancient Roman grid-patterned roads, and the stunning architecture of its charming, yet faded, palazzi have earned the city its rightful place on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1995. Don’t miss the chance to discover this fascinating city on a private tour. Your guide will be waiting at the meeting point ready to lead you down tangled streets, across lively piazzas, inside ornately decorated churches allowing you to experience Naples in all its riotous appeal.

You begin your day with a visit to the Church of Gesù Nuovo. Originally built in the 15th century as a private noble mansion and converted into a Christian temple by the Jesuits in the late 1500s, the church still preserves the striking facade of the original Palazzo Sanseverino with its distinctive diamond-shaped ashlars. Inside an eclectic, flamboyant parade of Baroque virtuosity, brimming with frescoes, stuccoes and coloured marble decorations, attests to Naples’ prime role in fostering the greatest talents of the 17th century, including Francesco Solimena, Luca Giordano and Cosimo Fanzago.

Just a few steps away, guests may admire a preview of paradise as they wander through the cloister of the Church of Santa Chiara, once a place of private contemplation for the nuns of the Order of Saint Clare. Bright hand-painted majolica tiles depicting figs, citrus fruits and vines adorn the sixty-four octagonal columns while the ceramic benches feature everyday scenes of urban and rural life in the 1700s. Additional splashes of green are provided by the garden’s hedges, lemon and orange trees, whose vivid leaves stand out against the cerulean backdrop of the Neapolitan sky.

From here amble along Via Benedetto Croce, cross Piazza San Domenico Maggiore and reach the mysterious Sansevero Chapel. Prince Raimondo di Sangro drew up the iconographic layout of the interior and commissioned skilful 18th century artists with the task of embellishing its walls with allegorical statues. Accounts of the prince’s beliefs, alchemic practices and fascination with the occult will surely intrigue you as you unravel the underlying meaning behind the works displayed here. Giuseppe Sanmartino’s amazingly realistic sculpture of the Veiled Christ is among the chapel’s highlights together with the so-called anatomic machines, two authentic human skeletons bearing precise reproductions of arterial and nervous systems made from beeswax, iron wire and silk… a puzzling, somewhat macabre sight that sparked rumours and dark legends about Prince di Sangro’s evil powers.

Other, more joyful surprises await you in Via San Gregorio Armeno, known for its artisan workshops selling hundreds of exquisitely crafted statuettes and figurines for traditional nativity scenes. Detailed miniatures of the Holy Family, shepherds and donkeys together with representations of pizzerias, fruit markets, gastronomic delights and caricatures of politicians spill out onto the street in a uniquely Neapolitan fusion of the sacred and the profane, of intense creativity and humorous insight.

After some free time for lunch return to Sorrento, a picturesque cliffside town offering sweeping views of the Bay of Naples. According to tradition, its name derives from the word Siren and is linked to the legend of Ulysses and the mermaids. These mythical sea creatures, half female and half fish, seduced sailors with their celestial voices and lured them onto the rocks causing shipwrecks. As the Odyssey recounts, Ulysses heard the Sirens singing as he was sailing past Sorrento and succeeded in defeating them by filling his companions’ ears with wax and asking his crew to tie him to the ship’s mainmast. The Sirens were so humiliated by their failure that they hurled themselves into the water and turned into the rocks that today rise from the sea, south of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and are known as Li Galli.

Here you can saunter along pretty streets lined with Baroque-style churches, boutiques and craft shops, take a peek inside the intimate cloister of San Francesco, famous for its 14th century arcade, and admire the trompe l’oeil paintings of the Sedil Dominova. This is an open loggia which once served as a meeting place for the local nobility and is now a popular gathering spot for card players. Not to be missed are also Piazza Tasso, the pulsing heart of Sorrento, and the view of the Vallone dei Mulini from Via Fuorimura. Here visitors can look down on this deep ravine that appeared more than 35,000 years ago, after the eruption of the Phlegraean Fields. Though abandoned today, this site was formerly a bustling centre of activity. Ruins of a 17th century flour mill enveloped by lush vegetation still stand as enduring monuments to Sorrento’s distant past.

Sorrento was a fashionable summer resort for wealthy patricians in ancient Roman times and remains a prime tourist destination today with its tasty culinary specialities, gorgeous seascape views and glorious weather. Limoncello, Italy’s golden liqueur, is also produced locally so don’t miss the chance to sample a glass before climbing back on board your cruise ship.