Naples
Naples is a southern Italian city with a port. It faces the Mediterranean Sea and is near Mount Vesuvius. Its name in Italian is Napoli which came from its Greek name Neapolis, meaning new city.
Ancient Greeks settled Naples in the 6th Century B.C. There were so many Greeks there, the Romans called it Magna Graecia, which means "Greater Greece." Later the Romans conquered the southern Italy and took Naples. When the Roman Empire fell to invaders in the west, Naples came under the rule of the Byzantines. The Byzantines ruled the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire based in Greece and also in what is today called Turkey.
Naples became independent later and but was combined with the Kingdom of Sicily during the Middle Ages. By 1500 it was ruled by Aragón, which was a kingdom in eastern Spain. Later Naples became part of Spain when Aragon and the other kingdom in Spain called Castile became one country. Naples was part of this Kingdom of Spain until the Austrian Empire got it in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. The Italian kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont conquered it in 1861. That kingdom became known as Italy. Naples was heavily bombed when Italy fought in World War Two, since British/American armies tried to capture it.
Today Naples is the capital of Campania and the largest city in southern Italy. It has a population of about 1 million. 300,000 people live in the area around Naples (including the habitans of Naples). It is an important city for tourists.
The average temperature and in the summer is 24°C. In the winter, the average can be as low as 8°C.
There is one airport in the city, Naples International Airport at Capodichino.
It was the capital of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
