Capodimonte is the Uffizi of southern Italy — except nobody queues and the park has a panoramic view of Vesuvius. The Bourbon palace on the hilltop above Naples houses the Farnese Collection (one of the most important Renaissance art collections in the world, assembled by the Farnese popes and their descendants), a devastating Caravaggio gallery, Titian's Danae (the most sensuous painting in Naples), Masaccio's Crucifixion (the earliest Renaissance panel in southern Italy), and the Royal Apartments with Bourbon-era porcelain, tapestries, and furniture. The park (Bosco di Capodimonte) is 134 hectares of woodland — Naples' green lung, with paths, picnic areas, and viewpoints over the Bay of Naples + Vesuvius. The museum is underfunded, under-visited, and underrated. That changes now.
Visit Capodimonte →First Floor — Farnese Collection: Titian's Danae (1544-46, painted for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese — the reclining nude that shocked and delighted Rome), Titian's Portrait of Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (the Farnese patriarch, exhausted and cunning, with his scheming grandsons — Titian's most psychologically penetrating portrait), Masaccio's Crucifixion (1426 — the tiny panel is one of the first works to use mathematical perspective), Parmigianino's Antea, El Greco's Boy Lighting a Candle. Second Floor — Neapolitan Gallery: Caravaggio's Flagellation of Christ (1607-08 — painted in Naples during his fugitive years, the violence is sickening and sublime), Simone Martini's St. Louis of Toulouse (the most important Gothic panel painting in southern Italy), Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Slaying Holofernes (a woman painter depicting a woman killing a man with terrifying conviction — painted years after Gentileschi herself survived sexual assault and a humiliating trial). Third Floor — Contemporary art: Andy Warhol's Vesuvius (a series of eruptions in pop-art colors — the museum commissioned it). Burri, Kounellis, Jeff Koons.
The Salottino di Porcellana (Porcelain Room): An entire room with walls, ceiling, and floor covered in Capodimonte porcelain — thousands of hand-painted ceramic figures, flowers, chinoiserie motifs. Created 1757-59 for the Queen's apartment. One of the most extraordinary decorative rooms in Europe (rivals anything at Versailles or the Hermitage). The Royal Apartments: Bourbon-era furniture, tapestries, chandeliers — the palace where the Bourbons lived when they weren't at Caserta. The Armeria (Armory): Farnese and Bourbon weapons and armor collection.
Entry: €12 adults (museum). Under 18 EU: FREE. EU 18-25: €2. The park is FREE and open daily. First Sunday free. Hours: Thursday-Tuesday 8:30-19:30. CLOSED Wednesdays. How long: 2-3 hours for the museum. Add 1h for the park. Getting there: The palace is on the hill above Naples — bus 178 or C63 from Piazza Dante or the Museo metro stop (20-30min ride, the roads are steep and winding). Taxi from centro: €8-12. Walking: From the MANN archaeological museum, it's a 2km uphill walk (30min, steep — better to take the bus). The park: After the museum, walk in the Bosco di Capodimonte — 134 hectares of holm oaks, pines, and exotic trees. The Belvedere viewpoints offer the best panoramic view of Naples + the Bay + Vesuvius from the north side. Neapolitans jog, picnic, and escape the city chaos here. Naples itinerary → · MANN → · Where to eat →