see Naples and die
English
Alternative forms
»Vedi Napoli e poi muori!« sagen sie hier. »Siehe Neapel und stirb!«
- As they say here, “Vedi Napoli e poi muori! — See Naples and die!”
Etymology
Unknown origin and authorship, but likely to have been coined in the city itself when the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (of which Naples was the capital) was at its golden age, that is, during the kingdom of Bourbons.
The sentence was famously quoted by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his Italian Journey: vedi Napoli e poi muori.
Proverb
- Once one has seen the Italian city of Naples, one can die peacefully, since nothing else can match its beauty.
Translations
since nothing compares to the beauty of Naples, you can die after you've seen it
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