[31][32] The duchy was under the direct control of the Lombards for a brief period after the capture by Pandulf IV of the Principality of Capua, a long-term rival of Naples; however, this regime lasted only three years before the Greco-Roman-influenced dukes were reinstated.

[30] By the 11th century, Naples had begun to employ Norman mercenaries to battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV hired Rainulf Drengot to wage war on Capua for him.

Still, Naples resisted him from May to August under the leadership of Richard, Count of Acerra, Nicholas of Ajello, Aligerno Cottone and Margaritus of Brindisi before the Germans suffered from disease and were forced to retreat.

[37] Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan and Genoese merchants,[41] Tuscan bankers, and some of the most prominent Renaissance artists of the time, such as Boccaccio, Petrarch and Giotto.

[53] However, Naples' lower class lazzaroni were strongly pious and royalist, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican aristocracy, causing a civil war.

[53] A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni known as the sanfedisti under Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo was raised; they met with great success, and the French were forced to surrender the Neapolitan castles, with their fleet sailing back to Toulon.

In response to these problems, in 1885,[59] the government prompted a radical transformation of the city called risanamento to improve the sewerage infrastructure and replace the most clustered areas, considered the main cause of insalubrity, with large and airy avenues.

The project proved difficult to accomplish politically and economically due to corruption, as shown in the Saredo Inquiry, land speculation and extremely long bureaucracy.

Italian media attributed the city's recent illegal waste disposal issues to the Camorra, the organized crime network centered in Campania.

[66] Due to illegal waste dumping, as exposed by Roberto Saviano in his book Gomorrah, severe environmental contamination and increased health risks remain prevalent.

The gallery features paintings from the 13th to the 18th centuries, including major works by Simone Martini, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, El Greco, Jusepe de Ribera and Luca Giordano.

Occupying a 19th-century palazzo renovated by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina (MADRE) features an enfilade procession of permanent installations by artists such as Francesco Clemente, Richard Serra, and Rebecca Horn.

[88] Underneath Naples lies a series of caves and structures created by centuries of mining, and the city rests atop a major geothermal zone.

Several archaeological excavations are also present; they revealed in San Lorenzo Maggiore the macellum of Naples, and in Santa Chiara, the biggest thermal complex of the city in Roman times.

In the first years of the 20th century, a local version of the Art Nouveau phenomenon, known as "Liberty Napoletano", developed in the city, creating many buildings which still stand today.

During the Benito Mussolini era, the first structures of the city's "service center" were built, all in a Rationalist-Functionalist style, including the Palazzo delle Poste and the Pretura buildings.

[114] Another notable centre of education is the University of Naples "L'Orientale", which specialises in Eastern culture, and was founded by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ripa in 1732, after he returned from the court of Kangxi, the emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty of China.

Each of the 7,896 comune in Italy is today represented locally by a city council headed by an elected mayor, known as a sindaco and informally called the first citizen (primo cittadino).

[130] To adequately assess the phenomenon, however, it must be considered that a large slice of tourists visit Naples per year, staying in the numerous localities in its surroundings,[131] connected to the city with both private and public direct lines.

[147] Since 2007, trains running at 300 km/h (186 mph) have connected Naples with Rome with a journey time of under an hour,[148] and direct high speed services also operate to Florence, Bologna, Milan, Turin and Salerno.

[151] A regional hydrofoil transport service, the "Metropolitana del Mare", runs annually from July to September, maintained by a consortium of shipowners and local administrations.

[154] Naples has an extensive public transport network, including trams, buses and trolleybuses,[155] most of which are operated by the municipally owned company Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM).

Naples is internationally famous for its cuisine and wine; it draws culinary influences from the numerous cultures which have inhabited it throughout its history, including the Greeks, Spanish and French.

Other noted Neapolitan writers and journalists include Antonio De Curtis, Curzio Malaparte, Giancarlo Siani, Roberto Saviano and Elena Ferrante.

[178] In Naples'44, An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth (London, Eland, 2002), the acclaimed British travel writer Norman Lewis records the lives of the Napolitean people following the liberation of the city from Nazi forces in 1943.

[185] Giuliani, who was actually from Apulia but lived and worked in Naples, is widely considered to be one of the greatest guitar players and composers of the 19th century, along with his Catalan contemporary Fernando Sor.

The Neapolitan tarantella is a courtship dance performed by couples whose "rhythms, melodies, gestures, and accompanying songs are quite distinct", featuring faster, more cheerful music.

The 2008 film Gomorrah, based on the book by Roberto Saviano, explores the dark underbelly of the city of Naples through five intertwining stories about the powerful Neapolitan crime syndicate, as well as the TV series of the same name.

Brought to the city by the British during the early 20th century,[198] the sport is deeply embedded in local culture: it is popular at every level of society, from the scugnizzi (street children) to wealthy professionals.

Naples is twinned with:[203] L'Aquila, AbruzzoAosta, Aosta ValleyBari, ApuliaPotenza, Basilicata Catanzaro, CalabriaNaples, CampaniaBologna, Emilia-RomagnaTrieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Rome, LazioGenoa, LiguriaMilan, LombardyAncona, Marche Campobasso, MoliseTurin, PiedmontCagliari, SardiniaPalermo, Sicily Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/SüdtirolFlorence, TuscanyPerugia, UmbriaVenice, Veneto