Italy:Trail of the unexpected

Art goes underground in naples

The opening of Naples' second underground line – confusingly called Linea 1 – was a national event. The President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, officially opened the station of Piazza Dante. The spacious semicircular square, with a recently cleaned statue of the great poet Dante, is now home to two futuristic glass and stainless-steel shelters.

For anybody who knows Naples for its spectacular views of Mount Vesuvius, its blue bay, numerous churches, fine weather and, of course, its pizza, the glow of a metal structure sticking out of the ground, comes as a surprise.

Just as London's Jubilee Line features avant-garde architecture, Linea 1 also represents a new, strong, cultural symbol for Naples.

Descending through the gates of the Piazza Dante station you have the sensation of going down to the Divine Comedy's underworld. Eight centuries later, instead of wandering souls, travellers encounter beautiful examples of contemporary art.

The Greek artist Yiannis Kounellis assembled metallic objects from the street and arranged them along one wall of the station. Other pieces include a neon work by the American conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth, a glass sculpture on top of an escalator by the Italian Michelangelo Pistoletto, and two wall "interventions" by Nicola De Maria e Carlo Alfanot.

Unlike elsewhere in Italy, travelling underground in Naples is now fast as well as a pleasant visual experience.

If there was a need for a contemporary art museum in Naples, the new Linea 1 seems to have filled it.

Best of all, the city's new Artecard, on sale in advance on www.napoliartecard.com, offers admission to six of the main Neapolitan Museums – Capodimonte, La Certosa and San Martino, Palazzo Reale, Castelnuovo and Castel Sant' Elmo – plus unlimited travel on the public transport system, including the spectacular Metropolitanana, for the curious time limit of 60 hours at a price of €13 (£8). Next time you are in Naples, take the tube and see it from inside out.