Naples Musa: the NATO summit of 26-27 May inaugurates the Neapolis 2500 Committee's programme of initiatives

On May 26 and 27, the NATO summit on Mediterranean security will officially open the celebrations for the twenty-fifth centenary of the foundation of Naples, the first event in the program created by the National Committee Neapolis 2500, established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.

During 2025, the city and other sites in the Vesuvian area will host international events and personalities, with the aim not only of celebrating this important anniversary, but also of generating moments of constructive dialogue in which Naples can contribute, in the wake of its tradition, to shape the future of Europe and the West.

The program, presented today in a press conference by the President, the Prefect of Naples Michele di Bari, and by the other members of the National Committee Neapolis 2500 – Maestro Pupi Avati, the rector of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University Lucio D'Alessandro, the entrepreneur Maria Luisa Faraone Mennella, the ambassador Pasquale Ferrara, the doctor-endocrinologist Salvatore Longobardi and the journalist and writer Gennaro Sangiuliano – follows four lines of address: culture, diplomacy, business and internationalization.

“About two months after the establishment of the Neapolis 2500 National Committee, we are proud to be able to present today an ambitious and detailed planning program – comments the prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, President of the National Committee Neapolis 2500 – which will give a great boost to the role that this city can play in a complex and changing context like the current one. The logo-concept “Napoli Musa” embodies this ambition: it aims to reaffirm the identity and historical strength of Naples, together with its ability to positively contaminate through culture, creativity, art and know-how”.

The initiatives of the National Committee Neapolis 2500 will bring together in Naples representatives of institutions, government organizations, the scientific and academic world and, at the same time, will bring abroad the value of the city in terms of culture, art, business and science. The goal is to generate a fruitful dialogue capable of originating an ecosystem that directly connects the current realities of the city, projecting them towards a future of value.

“In addition to the many projects already approved, we are evaluating others that will bring the city to the world – concludes Michele di Bari, President of the National Committee Neapolis 2500. We hope to be able to reach an international audience thanks to the work we will do in concert with the Embassies and the 85 Institutes of Italian Culture abroad. We want it to be an important moment of great pride for Neapolitans, of every generation, who live and work in every corner of the planet”.

The Neapolis 2500 National Committee will promote, during 2025, new initiatives that will be included in the overall allocation of 7 million euros, provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, which will also be expanded by the contribution of private entrepreneurs.

THE PROGRAM OF THE PROJECTS OF THE NEAPOLIS 2500 NATIONAL COMMITTEE

MAY AND JUNE: NATO, UNESCO AND RAI PROTAGONISTS

As part of Neapolis 2500, at the initiative of the Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, Naples will host on 26 and 27 May a meeting of senior officials of the Atlantic Alliance and partner countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean and the Gulf. Naples, home to an important NATO Command and the US VI Fleet, confirms itself once again at the centre of the dialogue on security dynamics, which affect the stability and prosperity of the wider Mediterranean. Over 130 international guests from 48 countries and international organisations will enliven the two days, contributing to the reflection to jointly address the challenges and common threats on the southern flank of the Alliance.

UNESCO has chosen Naples for the first “Biennale dei Patrimoni” (5-6 June), an initiative that aims to promote international best practices in the integrated protection and enhancement of tangible and intangible heritage. Among the events scheduled: an international conference with experts in the sector, workshops and practical sessions, useful for promoting networking between institutions, cultural operators and other stakeholders. The Vesuvian area, which also includes Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, follows the same sea border that touches the city and the islands of the Gulf of Naples, extraordinary custodians of an archaeological heritage, including underwater, that prompts a vision of development unique in the world.

On June 12 and 13, the Rai Production Center in Naples will host the Abu Rai Days, a two-day event organized by Rai in collaboration with ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union), with eighty representatives of public service broadcasters, commercial broadcasters and other organizations operating in the field of communication and media in the Asia-Pacific area, to share models and technological innovations developed by European and Asian public broadcasters.

JULY: THE DIFFUSION PROJECT IN ARMENIA

The first major event that will bring Naples to the world will be the concert organized on July 24 in Yerevan, Armenia, where the Orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo and the soloists of the Accademia Belcanto directed by Riccardo Frizza will inaugurate the Diffusioni project, an artistic journey that includes symphonic music, famous opera arias from the lyrical heritage, the prose of the Neapolitan theatrical tradition and dance that celebrates the eternal beauty of the city of Naples.

SEPTEMBER: BENEDETTO CROCE AND THE “INTERACTIVE” CITY TOPONYMY

The project is inspired by the studies and reflections of Benedetto Croce and aims to reconstruct the history of Neapolitan toponymy between the 19th and 20th centuries, analyzing the changes that occurred through an interactive atlas of the city. The result will be a reconstruction of a true moral topography of the city, to be conducted under the banner of Croce's motto according to which "every story is always contemporary history". The interactive atlas could be particularly effective in the current situation which, due to recent tourist flows, sees the Neapolitan territory and in particular the historic center, invested by a process of profound social, economic and anthropological transformation.

OCTOBER: THE MONTH OF MED DIALOGUES, BUT NOT ONLY

The Neapolis 2500 National Committee has reserved a great tribute to Totò, an icon of the city but also one of the greatest interpreters in the history of Italian theater and cinema, with a weekend of 24 uninterrupted hours of shows between October 4 and 5, in which 20 theater companies of the more than 200 active in the city will perform. The event will be held at the Teatro di San Carlo and, between one show and another, films on cinematic Naples will be shown.

October will be the month of the MED Dialogues (15-17 October), the reference space for analysis and discussion on geopolitics, energy, security and development that bring to the heart of the South a platform with a global scope that unites political, economic, cultural, civil and academic leaders. Naples exercises its role as muse, bringing into the event the possibility of stimulating, through the grafting of moments of culture and narration open to the public, new trajectories of peace, cooperation and solidarity. The International Week of EBU, the network of European television broadcasters, will also gather around the themes of this event.

From 20-24 October the Prix Italia, organized by RAI, will take place, the oldest international competition dedicated to the best radio, television and multimedia productions made by public and private broadcasters that will see the presence of over one hundred global operators. It will be a great opportunity to promote the scientific realities of international importance of the territory but also other cultural expressions, thanks to a visibility that will cross national borders.

DECEMBER: A SURPRISE AND.. “NAPLES BEYOND NAPLES”

December 21, the date conventionally recognized as “the birth of Naples” will see a great evocation that will symbolically unite the history of Naples with tomorrow, a moment that will be announced in the second part of the year. Furthermore, in December the volume, published by Treccani, will be presented, which contains a collection of about twenty essays written by personalities of absolute national and international importance that will highlight a historical-reconstructive framework of the past of Naples, and also some aspects of Neapolitan culture that have had relevance for Europe and the world.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR: CULTURE, HISTORY AND SCIENCE DIFFUSED

The program, directed by the Neapolis 2500 National Committee, will also see the creation of a review dedicated to Benedetto Croce, with the film by Maestro Pupi Avati, “A Christmas at Croce’s House”, which reconstructs the human and intellectual events of one of the greatest Italian thinkers, to which is added the project “La Linea della vita” in which his contribution is intertwined with those of Vico and Bruno.

Remaining among the city's symbols, the Teatro di San Carlo will be the protagonist with the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples of the Mostra dei Figurini Teatrali, that is, the sketches and drawings that testify and pass on the work of the great master set designers and costume designers of the time, revisited in an immersive digital experience capable of involving visitors thanks to augmented reality and interactivity.

Naples is not only history but also science and innovation. The conference “Scientific thought in Naples: a 2500-year-long tradition” and several dedicated sessions at the Innovation Hubs (IIT, InnovAction hub, Agritech, Clinical/ Drug Trial Center, Stazione Zoologica), with the scientific attachés of the embassies that will lead the city to propose itself as the City of Open Innovation. A city heritage that also leverages the many registered patents and the important presence of companies that invest in innovation.

There is no shortage of initiatives aimed at enhancing the territory: a musical path followed by trekking and hiking experiences managed by the Vesuvius National Park Authority and a project that blends history and innovation in the Pompeii Archaeological Park, which will give life to an international training school. Other projects such as the space-installation “Lumina Neapolis” complete the cultural proposal.