Emotional Map of the Most Iconic Film Sets in Naples
Naples has always been an extraordinary natural set. Its alleys, its terraces by the sea, its baroque staircases, the neighborhoods that seem like timeless frames: all invite to be filmed, narrated, experienced. Here is an emotional, not just geographical, map of the film and television sets that have turned Naples into a visual icon — places that visitors can discover, recognise, feel in their own skin.
Five emotional places worth marking down
- Palazzo dello Spagnuolo (Rione Sanità)
The sumptuous palace with the spiral staircase has become a symbolic image thanks also to the film Passione by John Turturro (2010) and subsequent takes, identifying it as “place of the deep city”.
Why visit: climbing that staircase means stepping into a living frame, becoming part of the historic shot where architecture and community blend. - Via Caracciolo and the Naples seafront
The seafront often becomes a scenery of emotions, as in È stata la mano di Dio (2021) by Paolo Sorrentino: an aesthetic journey between sea, sky and the city that breathes.
Why visit: walking that seafront at sunset is entering that “sequence”, becoming part of the same visual composition. - Via Tribunali (Historic centre)
Here pass the sets of contemporary fiction, such as Mare Fuori, which exploit Naples’ urban layering — between alleys, doors, windows, real stories.
Why visit: this is the place where real life and filming overlap, where everyday living and camera become one. - Palazzo Donn’Anna (Posillipo)
Elegant, overlooking the gulf, chosen for the film Il giovane favoloso (2014) by Mario Martone as a metaphorical place of life and art.
Why visit: here the city poses facing the sea. A refined set, perfect for those who love the meeting of elegance, history and cinematicity. - Chiostro di Santa Chiara
A cloister tiled with maiolica tiles that appears in many productions thanks to its suspended beauty and urban calm: a silent theatre in the midst of the dense city.
Why visit: an visual interruption in the fast pace of the city — perfect to pause and imagine what happens “behind” the story of cinema.
Why it matters
Because cinema has transformed Naples into a global image, handing it over to collective memory. And simultaneously Naples has transformed cinema: making its staircases, alleys, terraces into icons. Walking through these places means walking in a film — a different story each time, always Naples.
