Naples Cathedral and the Treasure of San Gennaro

The cathedral you walk into was begun under Charles of Anjou in 1294, on the site of two earlier basilicas. One, the Stefania, was demolished. The other, Santa Restituta, was kept and reduced to a side chapel off the left aisle. It is the city's early Christian basilica, traditionally linked to Constantine, with three naves, works by Luca Giordano and 14th-century sculpture.

From Santa Restituta you reach the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, to the right of the apse. The Italian heritage trust FAI describes it as considered the oldest baptistery in the West. Its small dome keeps fragments of late-antique mosaic on a deep blue ground. Below the cathedral is an archaeological area with remains of the Greek and Roman city and the early Christian buildings.

These are the rooms most visitors never find, because they sit behind a side door. Ask at the infopoint and join the next departure.

Halfway down the right aisle is the Cappella del Tesoro di San Gennaro, the baroque chapel that holds the relics of the city's patron saint and the ampoules of his blood. The cathedral site lists it with the Cappella del Succorpo, the crypt under the high altar, and the Cappella Minutolo among its chapels. Three times a year, crowds gather here to see whether the blood liquefies: on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, on September 19 and on December 16. Our page on the miracle of San Gennaro explains how to attend.

On those days, and at Mass times, sightseeing stops. Mass is said daily at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., with extra Masses at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. A weekday late morning is the calmest window.

The Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro shows what centuries of kings, popes and ordinary Neapolitans gave the saint: silver busts, reliquaries and jewelry. Its best-known piece is the jeweled miter, which the museum describes as set with 3,694 precious stones. The ticket also takes you through the chapel's sacristies, frescoed by Luca Giordano among others.

Here is the problem for anyone planning a budget. The museum's own website does not publish its ticket price, and its hours disagree with themselves: the Italian homepage says open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the English homepage says open until 4:30 p.m. with last entry at 4 p.m. Resellers listed combined tickets for the museum and chapel sacristies with an audio guide, plus the Museo Filangieri, from €13 when we checked, and gave weekday closing as 4:30 p.m. Treat all of that as unconfirmed. The safe plan is to arrive before 4 p.m. and pay at the desk, or phone the museum on +39 081 294980.

Is it worth it? If you have a strong interest in goldsmith work or in the San Gennaro cult, yes. If you have one day in Naples, spend the hour on the Cappella Sansevero or Pio Monte della Misericordia instead.

The cathedral runs a 45-minute rooftop route, listed from €6, that climbs from the Cappella degli Illustrissimi to walkways about 40 m above the street. The view is over the domes and bell towers of the old town, which the cathedral markets as 500 cupole. It is not suitable for visitors with mobility or visual impairments. Tickets and times are handled by the infopoint (+39 081 5574287) and the diocesan museum's booking desk ([email protected]).

For a wider view with no stairs, the terraces of Castel Sant'Elmo on the Vomero are the better choice.

The Duomo stands on Via Duomo, the wide 19th-century street that cuts north to south across the decumani. From Duomo station on metro Line 1, at Piazza Nicola Amore, it is about 660 m (0.4 miles) uphill, 9 minutes on foot. From Piazza Cavour on Line 2 it is about 930 m. From Piazza San Gaetano, the heart of Via dei Tribunali, it is 350 m.

It is the natural end point of our Spaccanapoli and decumani walk: come east along Spaccanapoli or Via dei Tribunali, turn left on Via Duomo, and the facade is on your right. Pio Monte della Misericordia, with Caravaggio's Seven Works of Mercy, is a two-minute walk away on Via dei Tribunali. For more on the neighborhood, see our Centro Storico guide.