Industrial port (shipbuilding, cars,
textiles, paper, food processing) and capital
of Campania, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea;
population (1988) 1,201,000. To the S is the
Isle of Capri, and behind the city is Mount
Vesuvius, with the ruins of Pompeii at its
foot. Naples is the third largest city of
Italy, and as a port second in importance
only to Genoa. Buildings include the royal
palace, the San Carlo Opera House, the Castel
Nuovo 1283, and the university 1224. The city
began as the Greek colony Neapolis in the 6th
century BC and was taken over by Romans 326
BC; it became part of the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies 1140 and capital of the Kingdom of
Naples 1282.