University of Naples "L'Orientale"
L'Orientale is the oldest school of Sinology and Oriental studies in continental Europe, founded in 1732 by the missionary priest Matteo Ripa as the "Collegio dei Cinesi" — a Chinese college sanctioned by Pope Clement XII, built around four native Chinese teachers Ripa had brought back from China to train missionaries in the language. After Italian unification it grew into the "Royal Asian College," adding Russian, Persian, and Hindustani.
- City
- Naples
- Type
- Public university
- Official site
- Visit website
- Admissions
- How to apply
About the university
It's a genuine specialist among Naples' three public universities — not a comprehensive institution, but one built entirely around languages, area studies, and cultures. Its handful of degree programmes (American and Latin American Studies, Archaeology, Comparative Studies, Eastern and African Cultures, Political Science and International Relations, Translation Studies) plus PhDs in Asian, African, and Mediterranean Studies reflect that same founding mission, three centuries on.
As with our shorter-form cities, our deepest, most detailed on-the-ground support currently stays in Turin and Milan — we don't yet have the same neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood rent data or a vetted-rooms network here, and we'd rather say so plainly than pad this page with figures we haven't checked.
Admission for international students generally runs through the standard route: Universitaly pre-enrolment, a Declaration of Value or CIMEA comparability statement for your prior qualification, and — depending on programme — an entrance test or a language requirement if you're studying in Italian.
See the Naples city guide for what living and studying in the city looks like beyond the university itself.
Living in Naples
Rent, transport, and settling in
How applying here works
- 1
Universitaly pre-enrolment
Your application to Italy, filed on the government portal.
- 2
Declaration of Value or CIMEA
Your prior qualification, made readable to an Italian university.
- 3
Entrance test or language check
Where the faculty asks for one — this is what preparation is for.
We walk you through each step inside the portal. How the application service works, or see the full 20-step journey.