Foria

- Santa Teresa al Museo, National Museum, Caponapoli, Duomo, Via Carbonara, Albergo dei Poveri, Former English Cemetery, Chiurazzi Foundry, Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea -

The first part of the route takes us through an area which developed mainly in the 18th and l9th centuries. In Via Santa Teresa dei Scalzi, a road straightened (and re-named Corso Napoleone by Giuseppe Bonaparte) to improve access to the Royal Residence at Capodimonte, the church of the same name and the convent of Discalced Carmelites were built between 1602-1612 by Giovanni Giacomo Conforto. Downhill from the church and on the left we come to the National Archaeological Museum, which contains one of the world's most important collections. Opposite the museum is the entrance to the oldest gallery in Naples, Galleria Principe di Napoli. Leaving the gallery by the entrance in Via Broggia and heading along Via Santa Maria di Constantinopoli we come to the church of the same name, built at the end of the 16th century by Fra Giuseppe Nuvolo. On the same road stands the Academy of Fine Arts, the work of Enrico Alvino (1863). From Via Conte di Ruvo we can see Teatro Bellini, built by Carlo Sorgents (1876Ñ77). Returning to Via Santa Maria di Constantinopoli we can see the magnificent facade of Santa Maria Della Sapienza, built by Francesco Grimaldi (1614-1638) with facade by Cosimo Fanzago. The church cannot be visited. Facing Piazza Bellini we can see Palazzo Firrao, built in the first half of the 17th century by Cosimo Fanzago, and the church of San Giovanni Battista, built by Francesco Antonio Picchiati in 1681. Crossing Largo Madonna delle Grazie, San Gaudioso and Largo Regina Coeli we come to Via Pisanelli, part of the ancient upper decuman, or division, of the Graeco- Roman city. On the left, in Via Luciano Armanni, the complex of the Incurables' Hospital of Santa Maria del Popolo, founded in 1519 by the Catalan Maria Longo includes the 18th century church and pharmacy. Following Via del Anticaglia and Via San Giuseppe dei Ruffi we arrive in Via Duomo, which follows the route of one of the cardines or major roads of Neapolis.The cathedral, dedicated to San Gennaro, was built at the end of the 13th century by order of Charles III of Anjou on the site of the 5th century cathedral Stefania and near the Basilica of Santa Restituta. Following Strada dei SS Apostoli we reach the church of the Holy Apostles, founded probably in the 5th century on the site of a temple dedicated to Mercury. From here a street runs to the North West, Via San Giovanni a Carbonara, or simply Via Carbonara, which gets its name from the habit, dating from the late Middle Ages, of bringing rubbish to be burnt here, and in which the elliptical staircase by Ferdinando Sanfelice can be seen rising to the church of San Giovanni a Carbonara in the distance. Turning left off Via San Giuseppe a Carbonara onto Via Foria we come to the slope of Via dei Miracoli rising towards the square and church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, which with its adjacent convent (today a girls' school) was built between 1662 and 1675. Continuing along Salita Miradois we come to the Astronomic Observatory.To get to the Botanic Gardens from Via Foria go along Via Michele Tenore, past the church of Santa Maria dei Angeli alle Croci, which was designed by Cosimo Fanzago in 1638. At the end of Via Foria we come to Piazza Carlo III, on which the Albergo dei Poveri, an enormous building with a frontal elevation about 354 metres long, stands. It was begun in 17th to a design by Ferdinando Fuga on the orders of Charles of Bourbon, but never completed.Continuing towards Ponti Rossi we come to the Chiurazzi Foundry. In Piazza Santa Maria della Fede we can see the church of the same name and what used to be the English Cemetery. From Piazza Garibaldi, heading towards Gianturco, we come to the Pavilion Of Art Marcello Rumma in Via Benedetto Brin. (Tommaso Russo)