The University of Naples “L’Orientale” (the Orientale University) has its beginnings in the Chinese College founded by Matteo Ripa, a lay priest and missionary worker who lived between 1711 and 1723 in the court of the Manchu Qing Emperor Kangxi. Upon his return to his homeland, he founded the “Chinese College” in Naples in 1732. 

The University is the oldest school of Oriental Studies in Europe. With its rich tradition in languages, cultural and social studies, from Europe to Asia, and from Africa to the Americas, since its very foundation, our University has represented a pivotal Centre of Studies whose aim is to highlight the differences as well as the points of contact between cultures.