Starting from the Church of S. Maria di Piedigrotta, by appointment, a visit to the tomb of Virgil can be made. From here going up via Posillipo which was begun by King Joachim Murat in 1812 and finished in 1823. This side of the gulf is pleasant, gently sloping down towards the sea and covered with dense and green vegetation. Its name derives from the Greek Pausillipon, which would mean the place where pain is forgotten, Pausillipus was so called in Roman times, in the Angevin period Casale Posilipi.
As soon as you enter via Posillipo we find Villa Chierchia on the left and a small road on the right that leads to Largo Sermoneta. Immediately follow on the left Villa Quercia, currently restored and on the right an ancient patrician villa which is now the seat of the Parthenope University Villa Doria d’Angri.
A few steps away is the historic Palazzo Donn’Anna: the old building protrudes over the sea, witness to a dark and legendary past, and even, according to legend, to the perverse loves of Queen Giovanna.
Immediately after there is the Hospice Marino dei Padri Bigi, a religious order founded in 1822 by the venerable Ludovico da Casoria. Continuing we find Villa Roccaromana, on the right Villa Peirce at the entrance the inscription that recalls a stay of Garibaldi in 1860.
On the right we find the Schilizzi Mausoleum, an Egyptian-style building built by a Jewish billionaire from Livorno with the intention of making his family tomb there, transformed into a Mausoleum for the fallen of the First World War.
You then reach the lovely Piazza Salvatore Di Giacomo on the left along via Ferdinando Russo you reach the small cove of Rivafiorita which borders the wonderful gardens of the beautiful Ville Barracco and Maria Pia formerly Rosebery property of the State property founded by the last king of Italy. residence of the President of the Republic when he is staying in Naples.
Returning to via Posillipo we arrive at the crossroads of the Capo, where a descent to the left leads to Marechiaro while a slope to the right reaches the Parco della Rimembranza today Parco Virgiliano where you can admire the whole arc of the Gulf of Naples: from the port to Capri, Ischia , Procida, Capo Miseno, the Flegrea and Pozzuoli area, while the islet of Nisida and Coroglio lie at our feet.
