Every design for Melito Di Napoli

Ever wondered where Naples ends and Melito begins? A few kilometres north of the city, on the flat Campanian plain, the boundary blurs into Scampia and Secondigliano, with Sant'Antimo, Casandrino, Mugnano and Giugliano all around. Once this was open country of fruit orchards — one theory traces the name to them — while another links it to "Mellito", the deep trench that marked the border between the lands of Naples and Capua.

What makes Melito stand out today is how densely it is lived in. It is one of the most crowded municipalities in Italy, home to families from Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, India and beyond, and still faithful to its old tastes: kiosks serve samurchio, the local cured meat made from pig's blood. Life gathers in Piazza Santo Stefano, where the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie turns its curving baroque front towards Naples. Green corners such as the Villa Comunale di Melito di Napoli and the Parco Corto Maltese give breathing room between the buildings.

On the road back, the two Colonne di Giugliano come into view, and anyone from here knows they are nearly home.