Description
The Galleria Principe di Napoli is a covered iron-and-glass arcade in the heart of Naples, between the National Archaeological Museum and the Academy of Fine Arts. It was meant to be a fashionable shopping lounge; it has mostly stayed an elegant, slightly forgotten passage.
Its shape is simple and unusual. It has three arms, and each one ends in an exit onto a different street. The three exit staircases have different lengths, because the streets around are at different heights.
Above runs the iron-and-glass roof, typical of nineteenth-century arcades, resting on a masonry structure. Toward the Archaeological Museum the exit opens into a broad portico.
The fourth arm, planned in the design, was never built: it would have touched the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli. That is why the plan stayed three-pronged.
In its place, from the late sixteenth century, stood the grain pits, the city's granary. When the grain monopoly ended in 1804, they became a prison, a storehouse and a barracks. In 1853 the nearby Porta di Costantinopoli came down too, and it was decided to wipe out the pits to open new streets toward the Museum.
In 1848 someone had proposed tearing them down to build the new Parliament, but the idea stayed on paper.
After Italian unification the area was redesigned: the architects Nicola Breglia and Giovanni De Novellis drew up a new urban layout between the Museum and Piazza Dante, with Via Bellini and the climb now called Via Pessina.
It was later decided to build a shopping arcade instead of a portico. Work began in 1870, stopped, resumed in 1877 and finished in 1883.
Trade never really took off, though. For decades the arcade was half empty, and in the afternoon it became the soccer field of the neighborhood kids. With all those kicked balls they kept breaking the glass globes of the lamps, even after they were replaced.
In August 1965 the facade on Piazza del Museo collapsed. Many suggested demolishing everything and putting offices, a park or a parking lot in its place. In the end it was restored in 1969, and again between 2007 and 2008.
Don't miss
• The three exit staircases.
• The iron-and-glass roof.
• The portico in front of the Archaeological Museum.
Did you know?
• The grain pits were so irregular that the granary was made of cavities dug into the ground.
• Via Bellini was made to stop in front of Palazzo Rinuccini, because the baron who owned it opposed the works.
Its shape is simple and unusual. It has three arms, and each one ends in an exit onto a different street. The three exit staircases have different lengths, because the streets around are at different heights.
Above runs the iron-and-glass roof, typical of nineteenth-century arcades, resting on a masonry structure. Toward the Archaeological Museum the exit opens into a broad portico.
The fourth arm, planned in the design, was never built: it would have touched the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli. That is why the plan stayed three-pronged.
In its place, from the late sixteenth century, stood the grain pits, the city's granary. When the grain monopoly ended in 1804, they became a prison, a storehouse and a barracks. In 1853 the nearby Porta di Costantinopoli came down too, and it was decided to wipe out the pits to open new streets toward the Museum.
In 1848 someone had proposed tearing them down to build the new Parliament, but the idea stayed on paper.
After Italian unification the area was redesigned: the architects Nicola Breglia and Giovanni De Novellis drew up a new urban layout between the Museum and Piazza Dante, with Via Bellini and the climb now called Via Pessina.
It was later decided to build a shopping arcade instead of a portico. Work began in 1870, stopped, resumed in 1877 and finished in 1883.
Trade never really took off, though. For decades the arcade was half empty, and in the afternoon it became the soccer field of the neighborhood kids. With all those kicked balls they kept breaking the glass globes of the lamps, even after they were replaced.
In August 1965 the facade on Piazza del Museo collapsed. Many suggested demolishing everything and putting offices, a park or a parking lot in its place. In the end it was restored in 1969, and again between 2007 and 2008.
Don't miss
• The three exit staircases.
• The iron-and-glass roof.
• The portico in front of the Archaeological Museum.
Did you know?
• The grain pits were so irregular that the granary was made of cavities dug into the ground.
• Via Bellini was made to stop in front of Palazzo Rinuccini, because the baron who owned it opposed the works.