Caracciolo Road is the promenade of Naples between Santa Lucia and Mergellina. The road is named after the Neapolitan admiral Francesco Caracciolo (1752-1799) who entered the Royal Bourbon Fleet and reached the highest degree. In 1799 Caracciolo joined to the Neapolitan Revolution and during the following repression he was sentenced to be hanged and then thrown into the sea. His dead body came to the surface again during the celebration for the restoration of monarchy, right under the king's nose. The king was so impressed that he ordered to recover and bury the dead man in a Christian spirit. His mortal remains are kept inside the Church of Santa Maria della Catena at Santa Lucia.

Mergellina has been celebrated for centuries by poets, painters and musicians as one of the most beautiful places in Naples: here the humanist Jacopo Sannazzaro lived and composed his chief poem: the Arcadia, which was the prototype of all literary edens and describes the mythical Golden Age, when the man lived in harmony with nature. Nowadays Mergellina, deeply modified and absorbed into the fabric of the city, hosts the tourist port and the terminals for hydrofoils to the Gulf's islands. In the harbour there are also the fishing boats which provide with fresh fish the renowned fish shops of Mergellina.

Piazza Vittoria (Victory Square, which divides Caracciolo Road from Santa Lucia) takes its name by the near Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (Our Lady of Victory), dedicated to the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and built in 1628 by the will of Lady Joanna, daughter of Don Juan of Austria, who was the chief commander of the christian fleet and won the battle. Caracciolo Road ends on the edge of this square, at the foot of the War Memorial for the Seamen, which consists of an high base with upon a Roman column, wich was found at Via dell'Anticaglia, in the old centre.  [ More...]