Our last full day in Naples was spent seeing some of the sights of Naples itself. Our first thought was to go somewhere that had a panoramic view of the city. This is what led us to the Castel Sant’ Elmo, a 16th Century castle on top of the Vomero hill to the west of central Naples.

Not being too interested in actually climbing the hill ourselves, we went in search of the Funicolare Montesanto, a cable car that would take us to the top of the hill (for free, as our ArteCards were still in effect). After wandering around some not-very-well-marked side streets for awhile, we found the funicular station and made the ascent.

Via Tarsia Med   Lrg	Bob at Funicular Station Med   Lrg
Waiting for the Funicular MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Funicular Car Med   Lrg
Inside the Car Med   Lrg	Funicular Ride MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD

From the station at the top of the hill, it didn’t take too much searching to find the castle, as it’s very big, but there was a wall surrounding it which we had to follow for a little while (to the left and around a corner) before we found the way in.

Looking for the Way In Med   Lrg

Probably This Way Med   Lrg

At the ticket office (in a small building separate from the castle), they should have charged us half price because of our ArteCards, but instead they let us in for free – we weren’t sure why, but we weren’t going to argue. Then they pointed us to an elevator that would take us to the top of the castle.

There isn’t a great deal to be seen in the Castel Sant’ Elmo itself. The castle actually dates back to the 14th Century, but was reconfigured into its current six-pointed-star shape in the 16th Century. It has been used both as a fortification and as a prison over the centuries. On the top are some fairly nondescript buildings and an extremely ugly antenna of some sort.

Buildings on Castle Med   Lrg

Ugly Antenna Med   Lrg

In places along the walls there are tapered holes which would have been easy to shoot out from, but not so easy to shoot into from the outside.

Along the Wall Med   Lrg

Arrow Hole Med   Lrg

But from the walls of the castle, there are magnificent views of Naples in all directions.

Naples Med   Lrg	Naples and Castle Wall Med   Lrg
Madre del Buon Consiglio and Capodimonte Med   Lrg	Philip and Nella and Naples MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD
Finding Piazza Dante MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Connie and Harbor and Vesuvius Med   Lrg
Points of Interest MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Castel Nuovo and Galleria Umberto I Med   Lrg
Galleria Umberto I Med   Lrg	Piazza del Plebiscito Med   Lrg
Coastline to West Med   Lrg	Neighborhood to West Med   Lrg
The Bay of Naples MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Connie, Nella and Philip Med   Lrg