Fact Sheets & Video - Naples

Naples - meaning "New City"; is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of the Campania Region and the Province of Naples.

The city has a population of about one million. The inhabitants are known as Neapolitans, napulitane or napoletani. The city is located halfway between Mt Vesuvius and a separate volcanic area, the Campi Flegrei, all part of the Campanian volcanic arc.

Famous for many things, Naples is actually also the original creator of the pizza. Modern pizza originated in Italy, although the style favored by Americans is more a friend than a relative of the traditional Neapolitan pie. Residents of Naples took the idea of using bread as a blank slate for relishes from the Greeks, whose bakers had been dressing their wares with oils, herbs, and cheese since the time of Plato.

The Romans refined the recipe, developing a delicacy known as placenta, a sheet of fine flour topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves.

Neapolitans earned the right to claim pizza as their own by inserting a tomato into the equation. Europeans had long shied away from the New World fruit, fearing it was plump with poison. But the intrepid citizens of Naples discovered the tomato was not only harmless but delicious, particularly when paired with pizza.

Cheese, the crowning ingredient, was not added until 1889, when the Royal Palace commissioned the Neapolitan pizza-maker Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Of the three contenders he created, the Queen strongly preferred a pie swathed in the colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato -- pomodoro), green (basil), and white (mozzarella). This is the origin of the Margherita pizza we know today.

Located in the historic centre of Naples and established in 1738, Port'Alba is the oldest pizzeria-tavern in Naples and possibly the world. It began as a snack stall for workmen, students and artisans, and 100 years later, in 1830, became a proper pizzeria-tavern with seating.

Pizzeria Ciro a Santa Brigida is known as the best pizzeria in town. It has an ancient Neapolitan wood oven and it is the only working oven of its type left in Naples. The restaurant is located in the Spanish quarter of town.

Further Information:

Air Mauritius - fly return to Milan from $1890 ex Perth, $2160 ex Melbourne, $2180 ex Sydney. Call Air Mauritius on 1300 658 572 or visit their website. Prices correct at 4/4/07. Prices include taxes, subject to fluctuation. Conditions apply.

AlItalia - fly return to Naples from $578 ex Milan. Call Alitaliaon (02) 9244 2400 or visit their website. Prices correct at 4/4/07. Prices include taxes, subject to fluctuation. Conditions apply.

Grand Hotel Europa - From $138 a person a night. Includes buffet breakfast. Offer valid 1/5/07 - 31/5/07. Contact CIT Holidays on 1300 361 500. Prices correct at 28/4/07. Prices include taxes, subject to fluctuation.Based on twin share. Conditions apply.

CIT Holidays - 1 Day Naples-Pompeii Tour from $147 adults and $118 children. Includes lunch. Offer valid 1/4/07 - 31/10/07 Call CIT Holidayson 1300 361 500. Prices correct at 28/4/07. Prices include taxes, subject to fluctuation. Conditions apply.