The 1566 Laffrery Map

This is the definitive map from the mid-1500s, one that has often been cut up to show individual sections of the city. Here you see how the Spanish expanded the city. Compare this map to the one from 1522 and you will see how the Spanish simply knocked down the old west wall of the city (at the point marked by the smaller red circle), turning it to the west, and spread out -- along the coast as well as up the hill to San Martino and St. Elmo (blue circle). The map shows the new road, via Toledo (long yellow lines) as well as the square blocks on the western side of that road. That section is still called the Spanish Quarter. The road led down to the new residence for the Spanish viceroy (small yellow circle). That is, today, the Royal Palace. The old historic center of town is in the large yellow circle. (You may take a "walking tour" of that part of Naples by clicking here.) The large, red circle on the left encompasses the new Spanish settlement beyond what had always been considered "Naples". It is, today, the site of the Villa Comunale along the seaside.