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Frozen in time by a volcanic eruption, these sites provide a view of the world as it was 2,000 years ago (see Pompeii).

When the Normans were making progress towards Naples in 1137 the city turned to the pope for help, but the Normans took him prisoner.

After the war, ugly apartment blocks throughout the region paved over what had been one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Corruption was rife, and La Camorra (the local Mafia) gained unprecedented power. In 1980 an earthquake destroyed thousands of shoddy buildings.

The tradition of creating sculpted tableaux of Christ’s birth (presepi ) has risen to a high art in Naples ever since the 1700s. Sculptors create scenes that expand far beyond the central event and include features of everyday life – Pulcinella may be shown slapping the current mayor, for example.

Smaller than Capri and Ischia and much less touristy, Procida attracts holiday-makers looking for tranquillity and cultural tradition. The island is flat with highly fertile soil, and is noted for its lemons, considered the best in the region. The island’s most original feature, however, is its unique architecture. The colourful houses along the Chiaiolella Port, Marina Corricella and Marina di Sancio Cattolico are known for their vaults – built as winter boat shelters – arches and external staircases.

Cunning, perpetually hungry and rambunctious, Pulcinella (Little Chicken) is the symbol of Neapolitans and their streetwise way of life. His signature white pyjama-like outfit, peaked hat and hook-nosed mask go back to ancient Roman burlesque, in which a bawdy clown, Macchus, was one of the stock characters. He is the prototype of Punch and similar anarchic puppets around the world.

Joan (1343–81) was so loved by the people that they forgave her for plotting the murder of her husband.

This remarkable little town floats above the Amalfi Coast like a dream and has attracted its share of visionaries over the centuries, from artists to composers, to actors and philosophers. Notable visitors have included Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, André Gide, D.H. Lawrence, Graham Greene and Gore Vidal, a current resident. Sumptuous palaces and their gardens, most now turned into exclusive hotels, recall Ravello’s heyday centuries ago as a major mercantile centre and a political force to be reckoned with. But any visitor will be content simply with the astounding panoramas along the coast, that seem to stir the poetic inclinations in everyone who comes here.

Naples and the coast have provided the setting for films as diverse as the fifth Star Wars instalment, which used the Royal Palace at Caserta for the queen’s abode, and The Talented Mr Ripley , wherein the protagonists soak up the sun in a beach town near the city.