A few miles southwest of Naples, the town of Posillipo offers a beautiful view of the Bay of Naples. Way of life. Music plays an important part in Neapolitan life. At the Piedigrotta, an annual music festival, the people hold an outdoor competition to choose the best of the new popular songs. The Teatro San Carlo, one of the largest opera houses in Italy, has presented the first performance of many famous operas.
Neapolitan food includes many varieties of dishes made with spaghetti, macaroni, or noodles.
Naples is the birthplace of pizza, which a baker at the royal court may have invented in the 1700's. Neapolitans also eat much fish and other seafood. The National Archaeological Museum in Naples displays one of the world's largest collections of ancient art objects. The royal palace of Capodimonte, built in the 1700's as a residence for the kings of Naples, houses the National Gallery. The gallery owns a collection of paintings, porcelain, sculpture, and tapestries.