Catacombs of San Gennaro and Fontanelle Cemetery, Naples

Under the Rione Sanità are two pieces of Naples that the city kept hidden for centuries: the Catacombs of San Gennaro, the oldest Christian cemetery in the city, and the Fontanelle Cemetery, where generations of Neapolitans prayed to nameless skulls. They're two separate visits, a few minutes' walk apart, and you can do both in one morning. Here are the hours, prices and how to book, checked today.

The two sites tell two very different stories of Naples. The catacombs date from the fourth century AD, dug when the city was still Greek-Roman and Christians buried their dead outside the walls, as Roman law required; that's why they sit here, in what's now the Sanità, rather than inside the old town. The cemetery is much more recent: it was born out of the plague of 1656 and became, over time, the home of a very Neapolitan popular cult. What links them is the same yellow tuff Naples is built on, and the same neighbourhood the city looked at from a distance for decades, until a group of local lads brought the tunnels under their own houses back to light.

The Catacombs of San Gennaro

The Catacombs of San Gennaro are at via Capodimonte 13, next to the Basilica del Buon Consiglio, a short walk from the Materdei stop on metro line 1. The tunnels run over two levels and hold frescoes over a thousand years old, plus the Crypt of the Bishops, where Naples' bishops were buried for centuries: it's why this site, more than other catacombs in the city, is tied to the cult of San Gennaro, who was buried here before his remains were moved to the Duomo.

They open every day except Wednesday, 10am-5pm, last entry 5pm. The visit is always guided, in Italian or English, lasts about 45 minutes, and groups leave every hour: booking online isn't compulsory but it saves a wait at the ticket desk on weekends. A full ticket costs 13 euros; the reduced rate is 6 euros for under 18s, 9 euros for students, over 65s and police and armed forces; under 6s and visitors with disabilities get in free. Groups of 20 or more who want to see San Gaudioso too pay a flat 11 euros each. Either way, the standard ticket is valid for 12 months and also covers the Catacombs of San Gaudioso, nearby.

The Catacombs of San Gaudioso, under the Sanità

The entrance to the Catacombs of San Gaudioso is at via Sanità 123, inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità: you go down under the main altar. It's the city's second early Christian cemetery, founded with the burial of the African bishop Gaudiosus, who died around 451, and turned in the 1600s into a place where Neapolitan nobles had their skulls set into the wall in plain sight, next to a fresco showing the rest of the body with the symbols of their trade: a mortar for a doctor, a crown for a noble.

Same hours as the Catacombs of San Gennaro, 10am-5pm, closed Wednesdays; the guided visit lasts an hour. You don't need a second ticket: the San Gennaro one works here too, for 12 months, so if you can't fit both sites in on the same day you can come back later at no extra cost.

The Fontanelle Cemetery

The Fontanelle Cemetery is at via Fontanelle 80, an ossuary dug into the tuff quarry on the Sanità hill, with around three thousand square metres of tunnels full of bones. It began with the plague of 1656, when the city ran out of room to bury its dead, and this is where the cult of the anime pezzentelle, the "begging souls", was born: Neapolitans adopted a nameless skull, gave it a place among thousands of others, and prayed to it in exchange for a favour. The cult never sat well with the Church: in 1969 Cardinal Corrado Ursi ordered the cemetery closed to stop it, and the place stayed a contested one, opened and shut more than once, until the restoration that brought it back to its current form. It reopened on 18 April 2026 after a long restoration.

It opens Monday to Sunday, 10am-6pm, last entry 5.15pm; closed Wednesdays and 25 December. On Mondays and Fridays, 9am-10am, the opening is reserved for prayer, not for sightseeing. Booking online through the cemetery's website is always compulsory: slots per time-slot are limited, and that applies even if your visit is free.

Entry is free for residents of Naples' second and third municipalità, if you book the accompanied visit. For everyone else, a full ticket costs 8 euros, the reduced rate is 6 euros for under 18s, students and over 65s; under 12s, visitors with disabilities and their companion get in free, as do licensed tour guides. If you'd rather go it alone, you can download the Into Rione Sanità app and visit at your own pace with the audio guide. This 40-minute guided visit instead walks you through the three aisles and the story of the cult, ticket included.

Seeing all three in one morning, on foot

The three sites sit in the same neighbourhood, ten to fifteen minutes' walk apart: get there on metro line 1 (Materdei or piazza Cavour) or by bus from Port'Alba, around ten minutes. It's worth starting early at the Catacombs of San Gennaro, which open at 10am, walking on to San Gaudioso inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità, and finishing the loop at the Fontanelle before 5.15pm, when last entry closes. With three separate bookings and some walking in between, one morning is enough to see all three without rushing.

Between visits the neighbourhood has plenty more to see: Jorit's murals, the Vergini market for a break, Palazzo Spagnuolo with its double-ramp staircase. The full story of the district, murals included, is in the Rione Sanità guide. If you'd rather do it all with one guide on a single route, there's the Miglio Sacro, three hours linking the catacombs to the district above them, tickets included.

Don't confuse this with Napoli Sotterranea: that's a different underground, the Greek-Roman tunnels beneath the Decumani, a couple of kilometres from here towards the old town. Down here in the Sanità, the underground is Christian, made of catacombs and ossuaries, not aqueducts and cisterns.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to book ahead?

For the Fontanelle Cemetery, yes, always: online booking is compulsory even for residents with free entry, because slots per time-slot are limited. For the Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso, booking isn't a legal requirement, but it's worth doing at weekends and during busy periods, when the guided groups fill up fast.

Are the Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso the same place?

No, they're two separate sites a few minutes' walk apart, with two different entrances: one on via Capodimonte, the other inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità. The ticket, though, is a single one: whichever site you buy it for, it's valid for 12 months at the other too.

Is the Fontanelle Cemetery free?

Only for residents of Naples' second or third municipalità, booking the accompanied visit. For everyone else the ticket costs 6 to 8 euros, and booking is compulsory either way.

How long do you need to see everything?

Count 45 minutes for San Gennaro, an hour for San Gaudioso and 40 minutes for the Fontanelle, plus the walk between sites: taking it easy, half a day is enough for all three.

Before you go, always check the hours on the official websites, especially around public holidays: down here they rarely change, but nothing is promised forever. If you've had enough of the underground and want some daylight, the rest of the neighbourhood and the rest of the city are in our things to do in Naples guide.

Information checked on 30 October 2026.