Architectural, Cultural sights in Naples
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A
Albergo dei Poveri
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 co…
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B
Villa Rosebery
In an area famed for its blue-ribbon real estate, Villa Rosebery is a star resident. Built in the 18th century, its history is both romantic and epic. It was used by Luigi of Bourbon in the early 19th century for his trysts with the dancer Amina Boschetti, and it was from here that King Vittorio Emanuele III left Italy in 1946 after the abolition of the monarchy.
The complex consists of three buildings - the Palazzina Borbonica, the Piccolo Foresteria and the Cabina a Mare - surrounded by lush, extensive waterside gardens.
During the Maggio dei Monumenti, the estate is sometimes open to the public, who flock here in droves to see what their taxes can buy.
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C
Museo Pignatelli
Along Riviera di Chiaia, the Museo Pignatelli is housed in a neoclassical villa that once belonged to the Rothschilds. It contains mostly 19th-century furnishings, china and other mildly interesting knick-knacks. A pavilion set in the villa’s handsome gardens houses a coach museum, currently closed.
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