Our itinerary begins in the lively piazza Bellini with its literary cafés, the backdrop of the 18th-century piperno staircase climbing up to the ex-convent of Sant'Antoniello a Port'Alba, now the Arts Library of "Federico II" University base , and the 4th-century BC Greek walls of Neapolis.
We continue along Via San Pietro a Maiella, where the Academy of Music stands, and Via Tribunali with the 16th-century palazzo of the Dukes Spinelli di Laurino, transformed in the 18th century by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice. In this street there is the palace of Filippo of Anjou (or of the Emperor), Prince of Taranto and Emperor of Constantinople, with its medieval arcades, where an attractive street market takes place.
The present-day Piazza San Gaetano is in the area of the Greek Agorà and the Roman Forum and is still the very-much-alive heart of the old city. From it, it's accessible the celebrated Via San Gregorio Armeno, famous for its artisan's workshops of shepherd figurines, artificial flowers and Christmas cribs and swarming with people during the Christmas period when the various stalls display their colourful goods.
The urban planning of Piazza Riario Sforza is particularly interesting, enclosed as it is by the secondary entrance stairway of the Duomo, the magnificent dome of the Chapel of San Gennaro and the prestigious Monumental Complex of Pio Monte della Misericordia, whose Church preserves the masterpiece "The Seven Works of Mercy" by Michelangelo da Caravaggio.
At the end of the Main Decuman stands the imposing mass of the royal palace-cum-fortress Castel Capuano, one of the ancient city gateway .