A Mediterranean Diagon Alley, Port'Alba is an atmospheric porthole into the centro storico, best experienced on weekday afternoons. Crammed with bookshops and stalls, it's the place for leather-bound classics, a dog-eared Manzoni or retro postcards and magazines. The gate, which leads through to Piazza Dante, was opened in 1625 by Antonio Álvarez de Toledo y Beaumont, the Spanish viceroy of Naples.
At the eastern end of Via Port'Alba, southbound Via San Sebastiano is famous for its concentration of musical-instrument shops.