Certosa di San Martino and Castel Sant'Elmo

The Certosa di San Martino is the Carthusian monastery on the Vomero hill, reached by funicular (EUR 1.10 with a transit ticket, three funicular lines serve the hill). It was founded in 1325 and rebuilt in the Baroque period under the supervision of Cosimo Fanzago, who spent 40 years on it. It is now a museum (EUR 6) covering Neapolitan art, history, and the presepe (nativity scene) tradition for which Naples is famous: the 18th-century presepi in the museum are extraordinary works of art, with hundreds of hand-made terracotta figures in elaborate landscapes. The Baroque church and its cloister are the visual highlight: Fanzago's cloister is considered the finest Baroque cloister in Italy. The panoramic terrace looks out over the entire city, the bay, and the islands (Capri is the dark shape 25 km away on clear days). Castel Sant'Elmo (EUR 5, star-shaped fortress beside the Certosa) has an even better panoramic view from the ramparts. Both are on the same Vomero hill and can be combined in a half-day.