Napoli: lungomare Caracciolo

Via Caracciolo is the promenade of Naples between Santa Lucia and Mergellina. The road is named after the Neapolitan admiral Francesco Caracciolo (1752-1799) who entered the Royal Bourbon Fleet and reached the highest degree.

Mergellina has been celebrated for centuries by poets, painters and musicians as one of the most beautiful places in Naples: here the humanist Jacopo Sannazzaro lived and composed his chief poem: the Arcadia, which was the prototype of all literary edens and describes the mythical Golden Age, when the man lived in harmony with nature. 

Behind Caracciolo Road there is the Villa Comunale (Municipal Villa), a set of public gardens which extends for more than a kilometre between Piazza della Vittoria e Piazza Repubblica (Republic Square, in the middle of Caracciolo promenade).

Inside the Villa there is also the Zoological Station, founded in 1872 by the German naturalist Anton Dohrn; who organized it not only as a scholars' centre but also as a meeting point for intellectuals and artists. It houses the earliest Aquarium in Europe, designed exclusively for the study of fish species living in the Gulf of Naples. 

Behind the Villa Comunale it stretches the road of Riviera di Chiaia, whose most representative building is the Villa Pignatelli, that nowadays houses the Museum of Prince Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes, inside the Villa, which is preceded by a beautiful garden, there is a permanent showing of furniture from the 19th century and a space for temporary exhibitions. Here are performed also several concerts of chamber music