Napoli Sotterranea: Naples underground and Greek tunnels

Under Naples there is another city, and that is not a figure of speech: tuff quarries, cisterns, aqueducts and shelters dug over two and a half thousand years, from the Greeks looking for building stone to the Neapolitans who slept down here in 1943 to escape the bombs.

The catch is that "Napoli Sotterranea" (underground Naples) is not one place. There are several entrances, run by different people, with different hours and prices. Here they are side by side: what you see, what it costs and which one to pick.

How the city below came to be

Naples began as Neapolis, the Greeks' new city, in the 5th century BC, built on yellow tuff, a volcanic stone soft enough to cut by hand. The Greeks quarried it on the spot and the empty quarries became cisterns. The Romans linked them to the Serino aqueduct, which brought water down from the mountains of Irpinia, and for centuries every building in the centre had its own well connected to that network.

After the cholera epidemic of 1884 the old system was abandoned and the cisterns were left empty. In the Second World War they became air-raid shelters, and after the war, dumps for rubble. What you visit today is the work of associations and cavers who cleared them out and opened them again.

“In Naples the oldest building isn't standing up: it's under your feet, dug out upside down.”

Napoli Sotterranea at piazza San Gaetano

This is the most famous entrance and the one everyone thinks of first. It's at piazza San Gaetano 69, on via dei Tribunali, next to the Basilica of San Paolo Maggiore: look for the white and blue flags. You go down 136 steps, shallow and with a handrail, to about forty metres below the street.

Down there you see the Greek quarries, the aqueduct cisterns, the marks left by the pozzari (the well-men who kept them clean) and the 1943 shelters, with the objects and graffiti left by the people who lived in them. There's an optional stretch of narrow tunnel, about ten metres long and lit only by candles: if you're claustrophobic, skip it and meet the group on the other side. The tour also takes in the Greco-Roman theatre where, so the story goes, Nero performed. Its remains are built into the houses of the neighbourhood, and you get in through a basso, a ground-floor flat, by lifting up the bed. A small war museum and an underground garden round things off.

Small groups don't need to book: you turn up and join the queue. At weekends the wait runs from ten minutes to an hour and a half; the official website sells a skip-the-line ticket with a fixed time, which costs a little more and can't be refunded.

The Galleria Borbonica under Chiaia

The Galleria Borbonica is another story altogether. In 1853 Ferdinand II of Bourbon had a tunnel dug to link the Royal Palace with the barracks on via della Pace, today's via Morelli, and give himself an escape route to the sea. It was never finished, but it cuts through the 17th-century cisterns of the Bolla aqueduct on three brick bridges. After the war it was used as a police impound: that's why you'll find vintage cars and motorbikes down there, untouched for decades.

There are four routes. The Standard takes about an hour and is the best choice with children or if you're claustrophobic: the spaces are wide and around 60% of the way is wheelchair accessible from the via Morelli entrance. The Via delle Memorie, an hour and a quarter, goes in from via Monte di Dio 14 and has plenty of stairs. The Adventure, an hour and twenty-five minutes, is done with a helmet and torch and includes a stretch on a raft along a flooded tunnel: age 10 and up, and not one for the claustrophobic. There's also a Speleo route, with its own rules.

If you'd rather have the guide and the entry already sorted, there's the Galleria Borbonica: cisterns, shelters and vintage cars tour, the Standard route in one hour.

The aqueduct under the Quartieri Spagnoli

The third big entrance belongs to the LAES association, at vico Sant'Anna di Palazzo 52, in the Quartieri Spagnoli (the Spanish Quarter), five minutes from piazza Trieste e Trento. Here you go down into a section of the old aqueduct and the wartime shelters, with writing on the walls and the beds of the people who sheltered there, and come back up on the other side, towards via Chiaia.

The price changes with the season and the discounts: check it on the official website when you book.

The buried Neapolis under San Lorenzo Maggiore

If the ancient city interests you more than tunnels, this is your place. Under the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore, at piazza San Gaetano 316, on the other side of the same square as Napoli Sotterranea, about ten metres down, there's a whole slice of Roman Naples: the macellum, the 1st-century AD market, a paved street with the shops still divided one by one, the bakery, the laundry, and the treasury where public money was kept.

The most complete visit is the one that ties together above and below: the Greek city under San Lorenzo and the old centre starts from piazza Bellini, goes down into the excavations and comes back up as far as San Gregorio Armeno, in two and a half hours.

The catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso

The catacombs are the city's sacred underground, and they're in the Rione Sanità. The Catacombs of San Gennaro, at via Capodimonte 13 next to the Basilica del Buon Consiglio, are on two levels: frescoes from the 2nd to the 10th century, the underground basilica of Sant'Agrippino, and the Crypt of the Bishops with its mosaics. The Catacombs of San Gaudioso lie beneath the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità, at piazza Sanità 14, and have something that stays with you: in the 1600s noblemen had themselves buried with the skull set into the wall and the body painted underneath, dressed according to their rank. Next to them are the seditoi, the niches where corpses were left to drain.

They're run by La Paranza, the cooperative of young people from the neighbourhood who reopened them. There's the tour of the Catacombs of San Gennaro, or the Miglio Sacro, three hours through catacombs, basilicas and palazzi in the district. The rest of the neighbourhood is in our guide to the Rione Sanità.

Which one to choose

Getting there

Piazza San Gaetano and San Lorenzo are in the old centre, on via dei Tribunali: take metro line 1 to Dante or Museo, or line 2 to piazza Cavour, then walk for about ten minutes. The Galleria Borbonica's vico del Grottone entrance is near piazza del Plebiscito, reached from Municipio or Toledo on line 1; the via Morelli entrance sits below the Pizzofalcone hill, towards piazza Vittoria, ten minutes on foot from the Plebiscito. The LAES entrance in the Quartieri Spagnoli is five minutes from Toledo station.

The Catacombs of San Gennaro are uphill, on the road to Capodimonte. From Museo on line 1 you can take a bus along via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi or walk it in about twenty minutes.

What to bring and what to know first

Underground Naples is also the right answer to a rainy day. If the catacombs leave you curious about the Naples of the dead and the epidemics, Palazzo Diomede Carafa has the exhibition AD 1656, the plague in Naples, until 15 January 2027. Everything else is in things to do in Naples.

Frequently asked questions

Which Napoli Sotterranea is the best to visit?

It depends on what you're after. For a complete first visit, piazza San Gaetano, which brings together Greek quarries, shelters and the Roman theatre. With children or anyone claustrophobic, the Galleria Borbonica Standard route. For archaeology, the buried Neapolis under San Lorenzo Maggiore.

How much does Napoli Sotterranea cost?

At piazza San Gaetano a full ticket is €18, with discounts for children and teenagers. The Galleria Borbonica costs €15 for the Standard route and €20 for the Adventure. San Lorenzo Maggiore is €9, the catacombs €13 with both sites included.

Do I need to book?

For the Galleria Borbonica and the catacombs, yes, it's compulsory. At piazza San Gaetano small groups can turn up without booking and queue, or buy a skip-the-line ticket online. San Lorenzo Maggiore doesn't need booking.

Can I visit if I'm claustrophobic?

Yes, almost everywhere. At San Gaetano the narrow tunnel is optional and you can skip it. The Galleria Borbonica Standard route has wide spaces. The catacombs and the San Lorenzo excavations are roomy and shouldn't be a problem.

How long does a visit take?

About an hour for the Galleria Borbonica Standard, for the Quartieri Spagnoli aqueduct and for each catacomb. At piazza San Gaetano allow up to an hour and a half with the theatre. At San Lorenzo Maggiore, excavations and museum together, an hour to an hour and a half.