Villa Comunale

Riviera di Chiaia

KnownNature

Villa Comunale, Riviera di Chiaia
Baku · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The story

The garden stretched out along the sea at Chiaia: avenues of holm oaks, benches and old statues, with the gulf breathing beyond the iron railing.

Access

€ (to be checked), Metro L6 San Pasquale

The story

The Villa Comunale is the great public park by the sea in Naples, stretching for over a kilometre along the Riviera di Chiaia. Born in 1697 as a tree-lined avenue, it was transformed between 1778 and 1780 by the architect Carlo Vanvitelli into an elegant garden on the model of the great European promenades, at the will of Ferdinand IV. It was born as the 'Real Passeggio' (Royal Promenade), reserved for the court, and became public in 1869.

What to see

Tree-lined paths, neoclassical statues and fountains among the greenery and the sea, with the iron-and-glass Cassa Armonica (bandstand) and the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, which houses a historic aquarium. A nineteenth-century walk between the seafront and the Riviera di Chiaia.

Hours and prices

Free entry.

Tips

The park is open to the public and is a pleasant shaded walk, between the seafront and Chiaia. The Aquarium of the Dohrn Station has its own entrance and hours: check on the official channels. To be combined with the walk on the seafront of via Caracciolo, which runs beside it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Villa Comunale of Naples?

The great public park by the sea along the Riviera di Chiaia, born in the seventeenth century and transformed by Carlo Vanvitelli in the eighteenth; it was the court's 'Royal Promenade' before becoming public in 1869.

What can you see at the Villa Comunale?

Tree-lined paths, neoclassical statues and fountains, the iron-and-glass Cassa Armonica and the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station with its historic aquarium.

Where is the Villa Comunale?

Between the seafront of via Caracciolo and the Riviera di Chiaia, along the sea of Naples.

More gems in Riviera di Chiaia

More gems: Nature