Albergo dei Poveri

Lonely Planet review

Not impartial to a spot of PR, Bourbon king Charles VII built this giant poorhouse at a main city entrance to promote himself as enlightened and compassionate. In the process of a slow restoration, it currently houses 85 families, by now the descendants of needy families housed there after WWII. According to locals, they share the place with a number of luminous ghosts.

Charles's gesture was grand indeed - the Albergo dei Poveri (Hostel of the Poor) is Europe's largest public building. If all had gone according to architect Ferdinando Fuga's plans, though, it would have been bigger. His original designs called for a facade 600m long, with five internal courtyards. When construction came to a halt in 1829, however, he settled for the smaller version that you see today. The facade measures a mind-blowing 349m, there are three internal courtyards and the whole edifice covers 103,000 sq metres.