Travel:...and beyond the mayhem - some little-known treasures of southern Italy

Enveloping the chaotic city of Naples, the Campania region has attractions to suit everyone's tastes. Among the best known are the enchanting Isle of Capri, the ancient cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, along with the splendid flesh pots of the Amalfi coast. Relatively few tourists, however, find the time to venture into the interior to see some of the less-well-known attractions such as Sparticus' amphitheatre, Italy's largest palace and its most unlucky city.

Capua

Capua is a proud, two-faced city - in the best sense of the term. The "modern" part was founded in the 9th century, while the ancient one was abandoned in the Dark Ages before being reincarnated as Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

Old Capua is renowned for a heady mixture of beautiful women and perfume. Indeed, legend has it that when Hannibal and his men enjoyed the hospitality of Capua in the winter of 216BC, they left so dreamy-eyed and spent that they were never able to defeat the Romans again. The Capuan pimps, on the other hand, had cash enough to thrive for the next 1,000 years.

Disaster struck in AD830 when the city was sacked by Arab raiders. The survivors regrouped and rebuilt the city a few kilometres away. In what remains of the old city you can see the second largest amphitheatre in Italy. If you thought Sparticus was just a great movie then think again; this is the place that he actually began his gladiators revolt in 73BC. Although few sections of the stand remain intact, the underground network of tunnels and trap doors remain to give a real flavour of the past. A ghost bearing a remarkable similarity to Kirk Douglas is said to haunt the place.

Nearby is the best example of a Mithraeum to be found in the Mediterranean. A Mithraeum is an underground hall that was used for initiating new followers into the mysterious and bloody cult of the god Mithras. Mithraism was a lads-only affair, and even up until AD3 it could probably claim more adherents than Christianity. The hall is dominated by splendid frescoes, such as the one of the powerful Mithras slaying a muscular white bull.

Caserta

Come here to see the Reggia di Caserta, the biggest palace in Italy. Covering more than 50,000 square metres, the building is of mammoth proportions. With some 1,200 rooms and 1,790 windows, cleaning must be a nightmare. Building work began in 1752 after Charles III of Bourbon set his heart on a palace similar to Versailles. The results are well worth seeing, both for beauty and naffness.

After entering by an immense staircase you follow a path through the royal apartments, most of them dripping with opulent tapestries, furniture, mirrors and crystal. Eventually you arrive at a bizarre room with a vast collection of Nativity scenes, played out in several huge cabinets, featuring hundreds of hand-carved characters.

No visitor to the Reggia should miss its elegant landscaped gardens. Most people take a bus to the end of the gardens, some 3km away, and walk back to the palace. A long axis of pools and cascades climb up to the Diana fountain, where the goddess and her mates catch Acteon in the act. Check out the Giardino Inglese which is sprinkled with rare plants, little lakes and fake Roman ruins - apparently this was all the rage in the 18th century.

Benevento

The Romans called the city Maleventum - ill wind - but after the lucky defeat of Pyrrhus here in 275BC they thought it might just be a Beneventum after all. If you come here in the winter, you'll think the Romans must have been crazy to change the name.

When the people in Salerno are ready to hit the beach, the Beneventi are shivering on the street corners in their woolly hats, victims of what is traditionally the worst weather in southern Italy. Unlucky Benevento is prone to earthquakes, and if that wasn't bad enough, the poor city took a bit of a clobbering in the Second World War.

Benevento's cathedral bore the brunt of the bombings and only the odd 13th-century facade remains, built from odds and sods of Roman buildings, including reliefs, friezes and pillars, seemingly arranged at random. Just south-west of here is a Roman theatre, dating from Hadrian's time but frequently restored since.

The tourist office will also draw your attention to the ruins of a bridge, but only Trajan's Arch merits any serious time. Built in the second century, the arch is a serious work. In one of the panels Trajan can be seen distributing gifts to small children; in another he's handing out the institutio alimentaria - an early form of dole.

Getting around

Buses for all three destinations leave Naples from Piazza Garibaldi, in front of Stazione Centrale. For Capua catch the Piedmonte Matese train from Naples to Santa Maria Capua Vetere. Trains to Caserta conveniently stop right in front of the Reggia. Trains to Benevento (soon to be renamed Maleventum) are infrequent.