(map) 
If Naples is a feast of sound and colour, the Villa Floridiana is the mint tea to follow, refreshing, green and good for your health. This is the place to stroll, jog or play tag in the cool of the morning, far from urban stresses. So we must be grateful to Ferdinand I of Bourbon who acquired the property in 1816 and set about creating this neoclassical haven for his morganatic wife Lucia Migliaccio Partanna, Duchess of Floridia.
From the park you may gaze upon the bustling city far below and out across the bay to Capri. Around the fountain green turtles navigate the waters between islands of papyrus; along the pathways wild cats pad gleefully after the kind but raucous signora who has fed the colony for over ten years.
Mint tea, fine… but where’s the babá al rhum? Ah, that would be the treasure within the palazzina – the Duca di Martina’s prodigious collection of glass, coral, enamel and ceramics. Enjoy.
(Scroll down to see both final images..)
– Written by Penny Ewles-Bergeron (see bio), writer, artist, … finding the many good things in Naples.
That was beautiful. I hope I get to visit Naples again to see this and to visit all my relatives. I love all your notes. Brings back memories and the wish to come back to my parents homeland.