From the Royal Palace to the Cathedral

- Piazza Plebiscito, Piazza Municipio, Via Medina, Santa Maria La Nova, Banchi Nuovi, Via Mezzocannone, Via Paladino, Via Duomo (Palazzo Cuomo) -

Piazza Plebiscito, with its hemicycle of San Francesco di Paolo terminated by the facade of the Royal Palace, is part of a complex urban system that received its definition between the two wars, and that ties together the city's various lines of development: the eighteenth and nineteenth century line running towards Chiaia, the line of the viceroys along via Toledo, and the lines that run towards the ancient city and the port. From piazza Trieste e Trento one starts off along via San Carlo. On the left side is the principal entrance to the Galleria Umberto; on the right the Teatro San Carlo, built in 1737 from plans by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. Its neoclassical facade is by Antonio Niccolini (1810-1812). Behind the Ionic loggia, in spacious rooms reflecting the flavor of late nineteenth century neoclassicism, the Union Club has been housed since 1861.Retracing one's steps through the interior of Palazzo Reale, one crosses the court of honor (worth a visit are the court of the Belvedere and the carriage yard) and enters the garden, done in a Romantic style by Federico Dehnhardt (after 1842). From the terraces of the esplanade, a bridge connects the bastions of the Castel Nuovo with its courtyard, where the City Museum is housed. On the right as one goes out onto piazza Municipio is the Maritime Terminal, and then the Mercadante (formerly Fondo) Theater, the work of Francesco Sicuro (1778), rebuilt in 1892. On the uphill side is Palazzo San Giacomo, the seat of the city government. From here, one heads toward the ancient city along via Medina. This street is rich in important features: the fourteenth century church of the Incoronata, San Giorgio dei Genovesi, Palazzo d'Aquino and Palazzo Caracciolo di Forino (the work of Ferdinando Fuga), Palazzo Fondi (rebuilt according to a design by Vanvitelli), the churches Pietà dei Turchini and San Diego, and the nineteenth century facade of Palazzo Carafa di Nocera.Once across via Diaz, one enters the Renaissance city by way of via Santa Maria la Nova. On the right are the church of this name and its cloisters. From here one continues on toward via Mezzocannone along a path rich in details worth discovering. The fifteenth century Palazzo Penna should be mentioned, with its facade of rusticated blocks decorated with Angevin lilies, as should be Palazzo Palmarice (the work of Ferdinando Sanfelice), Palazzo Casamassima, and the churches of Santa Maria dell'Aiuto and of Saints Demetrius e Boniface. Once past via and piazza Banchi Nuovi, one reaches Largo San Giovanni Maggiore, which is overlooked by Palazzo Giusso, site of the Oriental Institute, by the Chapel of San Giovanni dei Pappacoda, with its splendid gothic gate, and by the church of San Giovanni Maggiore. Via Mezzocannone is dominated by the great pile of the Central University (1897-1908), a massive restructuring work incorporating civil and religious buildings, completed during urban renewal.We are now at the border of the Greco-Roman city. Along via Paladino are the church and convent of Santa Maria Donnaromita, Palazzo Brancaccio (note its Durazzan gate) and, behind a railing, Santa Maria di Montevergine. Going down towards via Duomo, the narrow streets to the left betray the perpendicular grid of the ancient city. One passes the Elena di Savoia Technical Institute, with Gothic-Catalan architectural elements from Palazzo Carafa d'Andria, and the convent and church of Saints Marcellinus e Festus, today a university building. On the left is the church of Saints Severinus e Sossius with its convent, now the National Archives, which one approaches from the piazzetta Grande Archivio (in the center of which is an arch with a fountain dedicated to Phillip IV). To the left, along via De Blasiis, one reaches the little Renaissance church of Santa Maria della Stella alle Paparelle, the work of Giovanni Donadio (1519). One arrives at Palazzo Como, which houses the Gaetano Filangieri Civic Museum, by taking via D'Alagno, accessible through the cloister of Divino Amore. In the small piazza in front of the museum, the decorative qualities of several gates are worth noting. (Paolo Mascilli Migliorini)