Museums in Naples Italy

An overview of 10 best museums in Naples Italy

Naples is a city with beautiful museums, such as the well-known Archaeological Museum and Capodimonte. An overview of the best museums in Napoli (Italy).

Best museums of Naples

Naples has several museums and with its rich history you will never get bored. For example, you will find a museum with collections of anatomical specimens, a unique railway museum and a museum with a collection of torture objects. Naples is a city that is ideal for a city trip and the countless museums are very interesting and suitable to visit. The 10 most visited museums in Naples Italy are:

1. Naples Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum is the best museum of Naples and world famous for its great treasures from Antiquity and ranks among the most visited museums of Italy. For example, the first two floors of this museum are largely devoted to excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. These two cities were destroyed by the eruption of the Vesuvio in the year 79 AD. In addition, in the archaeological museum you will find all kinds of different frescoes, mosaics and other antiquities. History buffs will love this national archaeological museum (book museum tickets online).

More info

^{Archaeological Museum of Naples Italy}

^{The Naples museum contains a lot of material from Pompeii and Herculaneum}

2. Capodimonte

In the Real Bosco di Capodimonte park you'll find the old summer palace, which nowadays houses the beautiful Museo di Capodimonte with important works of art by Italian painters from the 13th to 20th centuries and beyond. In the museum you will find masterpieces by artists from every Italian painting school. Big names are Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Bellini and Botticelli. But you will also find foreign works of art in the museum of, like the Fleming Brueghel. In addition to the paintings, you will also find sculptures, a collection of weapons and changing exhibitions.

More info Capodimonte

^{Reggia di Capodimonte, aka the former royal palace}

^{Interior of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples}

3. Museo di San Martino

The Carthusian monastery (in Italian 'Certosa di San Martino') was built in the 14th century on the Vomero mountain next to Castell Sant' Elmo. Little is left of the original building. You will now only find the Gothic cellar, which is a fine example of engineering. Certosa di San Martino has had a lot to do with restoration work over the centuries. Today it is a national museum with a diversity of statues, paintings from the 15th century and even carriages. You will also find beautiful courtyards and cloisters in the Carthusian monastery, as well as a beautiful chapel.

More info San Martino

^{The national museum has a varied collection}

^{Look for the special details of the San Martino Monastery}

4. Museo Universitario delle Scienze e delle Arti (MUSA)

Museo Universatario delle Scienze e delle Arti is a modern museum that reopened in 1997 after being very neglected in previous years. The museum, part of the university, houses a collection of historical and anatomical specimens. Today, the museum is no longer a static museum of objects. It has been transformed into a dynamic museum that will delight lovers of special anatomical phenomena.

• Location: Via Luciano Armanni, 5 (this Naples museum is located in the medical university building 'Luigi Vanvitelli' not far from the metro stop 'Napoli Piazza Cavour')
• Admission: Free (book your visit in advance)
• Hours: Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (Wednesday to 4:00 pm)
• Website MUSA

5. Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa

The Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietransa, or the Railway Museum, is located in a unique location in the city of Naples Italy. It is located along the very first railway line of the Italian peninsula between Naples and Portici. This makes it one of the most appealing museums in Europe. This museum includes 55 historic trains housed in the old bourbon workshop. These sheds used to house specialized departments of train production. In this museum you travel all the way back to 1839 (the year of the first Italian railway), to the present day.

• Location: Via Pietrarsa, 16 (The museum is located a few kilometers from the center towards Herculaneum. Local and regional trains of the Naples-Salerno line stop at the station 'Pietrarsa-San Giorgio a Cremano', train tickets can be purchased at Trenitalia.)
• Admission: Tickets 7 €, under 18 years and 65+ 5 €
• Hours: Thursday from 14:00 to 20:00. Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm.
• Official website

6. Gallerie d'Italia - Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano

Galleria di Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano was originally owned by the wealthy merchant Giovanni Zevallos who hired architect Bartolomeo Picchiatti to build his new home. Over the centuries, the building served as a residence for various traders and merchants. At the end of the 1920s, intensive restoration work was carried out that would drastically change the appearance. In the present day Galleria di Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano contains 120 works of art where visitors can see figurative art from the early 17th century to early 20th century.

• Location: Via Toledo, 185 (200 meters from Toledo metro station or Municipio metro station)
• Tickets: Tickets 5 €, under 26 years and 65+ 3 €
• Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10:00 - 19:00. Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am - 8:00 pm. Closed Mondays.
• Website

7. Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina (MADRE)

MADRE – Museo d'arte Contemporana Donnaregina get its name from the building in which it is located, namely Palazzo Donnaregina and the monastery of Santa Maria Donnaregina founded by the Swabians in the 13th century. In 2005 the building was bought by the regional government of Campania to turn it into a modern museum of contemporary art, and a lot of restoration and refurbishment took place. In addition to many exhibitions and modern art, the building contains a (media) library, bookstore and cafeteria.

• Location: Via Luigi Settembrini, 79 (200 meters from metro stop 'Napoli Piazza Cavour)
• Entry: Tickets 8 €
• Hours: Daily from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm (Sundays to 8:00 pm and closed on Tuesdays)
• Website

^{The MADRE Museum in Naples}

^{The Museum of Modern Art}

8. Museo delle Torture

The Museo delle Torture is one of a kind with all kinds of torture objects. Oscar Mattera and Paolo Lupo came up with the idea of bringing a collection in one place. This torture museum was created by a passion for unknown objects related to torture. The collection of torture objects is still growing. The Museo delle Torture mainly wants to impress without being too gruesome. The main aim is to represent one of the darkest periods in history and to stimulate constructive reflection.

• Location: Vico Santa Luciella 18/B (in a small side street of the Spaccanapoli)
• Admission: Tickets 5 €
• Hours: Open daily from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
• Website

9. Museo delle Arti Sanitarie & Farmacia Storica

The Museo delle Arti Sanitarie is a small museum housed in a 16th-century hospital and monastery complex. This museum tells about the city's history from a medical perspective. Unfortunately, there is a lack of English information, but as a visitor you will find a fascinating collection of historical surgical instruments. Such as an amputation saw from the 18th century and an original wooden mask in the shape of a beak that were worn during plagues. Visitors can also book a tour of the adjacent Farmacia Storica degli Incurabili, an 18th century pharmacy. These tours are in Italian by the way.

• Location: Via Luciano Armanni, 1 (200 meters from metro stop 'Napoli Piazza Cavour)
• Entry: 10 € for a 1.5-hour guided tour in Italian
• Hours: Monday, Wednesday to Saturday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
• Website

10. Villa Pignatelli

A short distance from the boulevard of Naples you will find Villa Pignatelli. This building is one of the best examples of neoclassical architecture. Villa Pignatelli consists of more than 10 rooms, beautiful rooms with illuminated chandeliers and refined decorations on the walls. From Villa Pignatelli you have a beautiful view of the garden and can admire all kinds of sculptures, such as those of Pope Innocent XII Pignatelli and Pope Clement XI Albani.

• Location: Riviera di Chiaia, 200 (200 meters from metro station Piazza Amedeo)
• Admission: Tickets 5 € and reduced price 3 € (book on this website)
• Hours: Open daily from 9:30 am - 5:00 pm (closed Tuesdays)
• Website

Naples Museum Tickets