Description
Piazza Bellini is a rectangular square along Naples' decumanus maggiore, in the San Lorenzo district. It is one of the busiest in the historic center: by day it is enlivened by students and musicians, in the evening by the tables of the bars around it.
It has always been an intellectual meeting place. Around it are university buildings and the Academy of Fine Arts, a step from the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, where important Italian composers studied, among them Vincenzo Bellini.
In the middle stands the statue of Vincenzo Bellini himself, by Alfonso Balzico, from 1886, which gives the square its name.
On one side, a few meters lower down, you can see the blocks of the walls of Greek Neapolis. They were partly discovered in 1954 and then in 1984, and today they lie in the open air, a few steps from the café tables.
Around the square are monumental sixteenth- and seventeenth-century palaces, such as the Palazzo Castriota Scanderbeg and the Palazzo Firrao. On the north side towers the former complex of Sant'Antonio delle Monache a Port'Alba, now the library of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy.
On the west side stands what was the palace of the Princes of Conca, built in the late fifteenth century: some original architectural elements still remain on its facade.
Three well-known streets start from the square. Via Port'Alba, behind the ancient city gate, is the street of bookshops; Via San Sebastiano is the street of music, with musical instrument shops.
The third is Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, which leads to the National Archaeological Museum. Together with the other two, it makes Piazza Bellini a good starting point, or resting stop, for a walk in the old center.
On the side opposite Sant'Antonio stands the Palazzo De Rossi di Castelpetroso, also known as Mastellone. Among Greek walls, Renaissance palaces and bookshops, the square sums up the character of the old center well.
It has always been an intellectual meeting place. Around it are university buildings and the Academy of Fine Arts, a step from the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, where important Italian composers studied, among them Vincenzo Bellini.
In the middle stands the statue of Vincenzo Bellini himself, by Alfonso Balzico, from 1886, which gives the square its name.
On one side, a few meters lower down, you can see the blocks of the walls of Greek Neapolis. They were partly discovered in 1954 and then in 1984, and today they lie in the open air, a few steps from the café tables.
Around the square are monumental sixteenth- and seventeenth-century palaces, such as the Palazzo Castriota Scanderbeg and the Palazzo Firrao. On the north side towers the former complex of Sant'Antonio delle Monache a Port'Alba, now the library of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy.
On the west side stands what was the palace of the Princes of Conca, built in the late fifteenth century: some original architectural elements still remain on its facade.
Three well-known streets start from the square. Via Port'Alba, behind the ancient city gate, is the street of bookshops; Via San Sebastiano is the street of music, with musical instrument shops.
The third is Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, which leads to the National Archaeological Museum. Together with the other two, it makes Piazza Bellini a good starting point, or resting stop, for a walk in the old center.
On the side opposite Sant'Antonio stands the Palazzo De Rossi di Castelpetroso, also known as Mastellone. Among Greek walls, Renaissance palaces and bookshops, the square sums up the character of the old center well.