see Naples and die

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!”

• see Naples and then 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 (1786–88).

Proverb

see Naples and die

1. Once one has seen the Italian city of Naples, one can die peacefully, since nothing else can match its beauty.