 Introduzione
The Royal Palace of Naples was built as the king of Spain Philip III was supposed to be coming to visit Naples and it was felt that the other royal residences were not suitable for a king to stay in. The Royal Palace was designed by Domenico Fontana. The 17th century palace visible today is, however, the result of numerous additions and changes, including some by Luigi Vanvitelli in the mid-18th century and then by Gaetano Genovese in 1838 after a fire had damaged much of the palace.
 Location
Address :Palazzo Reale, Piazza Plebiscito, I-80132, Naples
Transit: By train: the Royal Palace is 3.5 km from the main station.
By public transport: from the main station, bus R2 (stop San Carlo).
 History
The Royal Palace was designed by Domenico Fontana in 1600 close to the old Viceroy's Palace, later demolished in 1843. The Palace was planned on a large scale and in modern style by order of the Viceroy Fernando Ruiz de Castro, Count of Lemos and the Vicereine Caterina Zunica. Its long facade in brick and piperno with granite columns, pediments and Doric, Ionic and Corinthian pilasters is inspired by the structural and ornamental devices of the Roman culture that Fontana had experienced in Rome, where he had been called by Pope Sixtus V.
In the XVIII century it was restored by Luigi Vanvitelli. Some of the arches of the façade were filled with niches as the architect Vanvitelli thought that the palace was in danger of collapsing as it wasn't stable. Later Gioacchino Murat and Carolina Bonaparte decorated the royal palace with neoclassical furniture and porcelain (China ware). In 1837 a fire broke out and damaged the building. That is the reason why it was restored by Gaetano Genovese. It was damaged also during the last war and then it was renewed once again.
In 1841 the botanist Denhardt created the large garden extending to the north in accordance with the taste of the period: a XIX-century railing encloses both garden and stables. The entrance to the old riding ground is surmounted by bronze sculptures of two Horse trainers by Clodt Von Jurgenburg, a gift to Ferdinand II of Bourbon in 1846 from the Tsar of Russia.
In 1888 the king of Italy, Umberto I placed in the arches of the facade 8 statues representing the most important kings of the various dynasties who ruled Naples over the centuries. they are Roger the Norman, Frederick II of Swabia, Charles I of Anjou, Alfonso I of Aragon, Charles V of Spain, Charles of Bourbon, Joachim Murat, Victor Emanuel II.
It later became a distant outpost of the Kingdom of Italy and the residence of the Princes of Piedmont. It was opened to the public in 1919, when it was included among the national institutes of antiquities and art. After its post-war restoration it is now presented as a Historical Apartment.
 The Theatre
It was the Old Ball Room turned into the Royal Theatre by Ferdinando Fuga in 1768. Half destroyed by a bomb during the last war, it was restored in the middle of this century. It was transformed into the Royal Theatre when the king Ferdinand IV of Bourbon married Maria Carolina of Austria. It is decorated in rococo style and the paper-pulp statues surrounding the hall represent the Muses, Minerva, Apollon and Mercury. In 1994 the G7 members met in that room.
 The Throne Room
The Throne room is in Empire style and dates back to the year 1850. In the vault there are 14 female figures symbolizing the various districts of the Bourbon Kingdom. In front of the throne there is portait of Ferdinand I of Bourbon who is pointing out the church of San Francesco di Paola, which is in front of the Royal Building. On the right and on the left of the throne two paintings represent the ambassadors of Tripoli and of Turkey. In the same room another painting showes Victor Emanuel III, king of Naples, when he was a boy: he was born in that building in 1869. The chandelier is made of crystal from Bohemia.
 The Great Capitan's Room
This room is dedicated to Don Salvo de Cordoba, the Spanish captain who conquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1503. Since then Naples was no longer the capital of the kingdom but just the capital of one of the Spanish dominions. The vault was painted by Battistello Caracciolo and it represents the great captain. In the same room a precious portrait of Pier Luigi Farnese by Tiziano Vecellio is kept.
 Room of Maria Cristina
The apartments that were still lived in until 1837 are reached via the Room of Maria Cristina (originally room where the King dresses with the ceiling frescoed by De Mura). On the ceiling of the next room are the Deeds of the Condottiere Gonzalo de Cordoba against the French by Battistello Caracciolo; on the walls is the tapestry Allegory of Modesty created by the Royal factories to a cartoon by Francesco de Mura.
 Room of Hercules
The Room of Hercules, where balls and receptions were held, displays the large bronze clock with Atlas bearing the globe, (made in France in the XVIII century). A suite of back rooms giving onto the ambulatory of the loggia are variously decorated by XVIII and XIX-century Neapolitan artists.
 Palatine Chapel
In the eastern part of the loggia is the Palatine Chapel, built from 1646 onwards, and altered between 1808-15 by Antonio De Simone and then by Gaetano Genovese, and, more insensitively, after World War II; inside is a high altar from the church of St Teresa agli Studi, after a drawing by Dionisio Lazzari, and, on the ceiling, Our Lady of the Assumption by Domenico Morelli.
 Useful Information
Open: Open every day 9.00-20.00.
Closed: Wednesday and on 1st January, 25th April, 1st May and 25th December, apart from exceptional openings.
Telephone: 081-5808111 (Curator's office); 081-7410067 (ticket office).
Fax: 081-403561
Price: Full price: 4.00 euro.
Reduced: 2.00 euro (for citizens of the European Union between 18 and 25 years old and for teachers).
Free of charge for citizens of the European Union under 18 and over 65.
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