Castel Capuano

This Norman castle has been the seat of the city's civil courts since 1540, and the crowd of noisy families, slick lawyers and menacing police around the main entrance is a permanent feature. Built in 1165 by William I to guard the nearby city gate Porta Capuana, it was later enlarged by the King Frederick II and fortified by Charles I of Anjou. The castle is not open to the public.

Across the square, the imposing Porta Capuana was one of the city's main medieval gates. Built on the orders of Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1484, the two cylindrical towers, named Honour and Virtue, flank a white marble-clad triumphal arch. Giuliano da Maiano oversaw the addition of Emperor Charles V's intricately decorated coat of arms in 1535.