Arts & crafts

Private Walking Tour of craftsmen

The best way to truly understand Neapolitan culture is by meeting its artisans—masters who have been preserving their precious crafts for generations. A local expert will guide you through the workshops of the historic center (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), where you'll learn the history and production process of the corno, our most iconic good luck charm, as well as the art of carving shells and stones.

Let yourself be enchanted by the creativity behind the terracotta figurines that make up the presepe, the nativity—our beloved Christmas tradition.

​As the German traveler Fryderyk Moszyński wrote in 1784: "They consist of various rooms lined with tree bark, moss, and cork, giving a lifelike expression to the stable, the figures, and the landscape. And the scenery—whether the sky, Vesuvius, or other nearby mountains—is recreated with such artistic skill that it becomes impossible to distinguish the artificial from the natural."

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Meet the artisans who have enough time that day to properly welcome guests:  lute and handcrafted string instruments makers at their timeless workshops, toy fixers who carry on their family hard work since 1800 at a magical place in Naples or a fifth-generation leather gloves maker at his atelier in a historical apartment building.

Take a break to sample a sweet or savory local specialty, and enjoy an authentic Neapolitan espresso — or prepared using the traditional cuccumella, the original Neapolitan coffee pot.

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And remember: a local saying goes "if an artisan gets hurt while working and the blood comes out, art comes in".