Castel Capuano | |
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Naples, Italy | |
Coordinates | 40°51′12″N14°15′51″E / 40.853270°N 14.264190°E |
Site information | |
Owner | Naples Comune |
Open to the public | Limited access, In the process of becoming a museum. |
Site history | |
Built | 12th century |
Built by | William I Frederick II |
In use | Still in use today |
Castel Capuano is a castle in Naples, southern Italy. It takes its name from the fact that it was at that point in the city walls where the road led out to the city of Capua. The castle is at the southwest end of via dei Tribunali, and until recently housed the Naples Hall of Justice, which has now moved to the new Civic Center, the Centro Direzionale .
The structure was built in the 12th century by William I, [1] [2] the son of Roger II of Sicily, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Naples. It was expanded by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and became one of his royal palaces. On 19 August 1432, Sergianni Caracciolo was stabbed by four knights in the service of the Queen in his room in Castel Capuano.
In the 16th century, under the Spanish viceroyship of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, all of the city's various legal offices and departments were consolidated here and it became the Hall of Justice - known as the "Vicaria" - the basements of which served as a prison. Over the entrance to the castle, the arms of Emperor Charles V, who visited Naples in 1535, are still visible.
The castle has undergone many restorations, one as recent as 1860, and no longer retains much of its original appearance. The Colonna della Vicaria, a simple column on a pillar, once stood in front of the entrance; it was used to disgrace and punish debtors. At the rear exterior of the building, facing Piazza Enrico de Nicola, is the Fontana del Formiello. [3]
Coordinates: 40°51′11.77″N14°15′50.97″E / 40.8532694°N 14.2641583°E
Naples is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 967,069 within the city's administrative limits as of 2017. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its metropolitan area stretches beyond the boundaries of the city wall for approximately 20 miles.
Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga, jure uxorisMarquess of Villafranca del Bierzo was a Spanish politician. The first effective Spanish viceroy of Naples, in 1532–1552, he was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban improval in the city and southern Italian kingdom in general. He was the father-in-law of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre.
The Duchy of Naples began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century. It was governed by a military commander (dux), and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. Naples remains a significant metropolitan city in present-day Italy.
Vomero is a bustling hilltop district of metropolitan Naples, Italy — comprising approximately two square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) and a population of 48,000.
Castel dell'Ovo is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in the Middle Ages as a great sorcerer and predictor of the future. In the legend, Virgil put a magical egg into the foundations to support the fortifications. It remains there along with his bones, and had this egg been broken, the castle would have been destroyed and a series of disastrous events for Naples would have followed. The castle is located between the districts of San Ferdinando and Chiaia, facing Mergellina across the sea.
Castel Nuovo, often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle located in front of Piazza Municipio and the city hall in central Naples, Campania, Italy. Its scenic location and imposing size makes the castle, first erected in 1279, one of the main architectural landmarks of the city. It was a royal seat for kings of Naples, Aragon and Spain until 1815.
The Naples Conservatory of Music is a music school located in Naples, Italy. It is situated in the complex of San Pietro a Majella.
The Porta Capuana is an ancient city gate in Naples, Italy. The gate also gives name to the zone, which is one of the ten boroughs of Naples. This zone being part of the Fourth Municipality.
Via dei Tribunali is a street in the old historic center of Naples, Italy.
Vicaria, often known as Il Vasto, is one of the 30 quartieri of Naples, southern Italy, lying immediately to the east of the historical city centre.
Poggioreale is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is at the extreme east end of the downtown Naples and includes the central train station, Centro Direzionale, Poggioreale prison, and the industrial area to the east.
Santa Caterina a Formiello is a church in Naples, in southern Italy, located at the extreme eastern end of the old historic center of the city, on Via Carbonara and Piazza Enrico de Nicola, near the gate called Porta Capuana. The term Formiello comes from the forms or containers for water spouts found in the convent. Diagonally across the street and South is the Fontana del Formiello against the rear wall of the imposing Castel Capuano.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Naples. The Naples area has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest historical sources in the area were left by the Myceneans in the 2nd millennium BC. During its long history, Naples has been captured, destroyed and attacked many times. The city has seen earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, foreign invasions and revolutions.
Santa Maria della Pace is a Roman Catholic church attached to a monastery and hospital, located on Via dei Tribunali corner with Via Castel Capuano, just after the piazzetta Sedil Capuano, in Naples, Italy.
San Giorgio Maggiore is a basilica church located on the corner of Via vicaria Vecchia and Via Duomo, in central Naples, Italy. The apse of the church lies diagonally across the street from San Severo al Pendino.
The Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus are underground paleo-Christian burial sites, located in the northern area of the city of Naples.
The Column of the Vicariate or Colonna della Vicaria was a simple white marble column on a pedestal that formerly stood outside the Castel Capuano along Via dei Tribunali in Naples, Italy. It was used by the government first as a place for punishment of debtors.
The Fontana del Formiello is a historic public fountain located at the rear exterior of the Castel Capuano, facing Piazza Enrico de Nicola, and across the street from the church and convent of Santa Caterina a Formiello in Naples, Italy. The term Formiello comes from the forms or containers for water spouts found in the convent. The fountain had been placed in storage during the late 19th century, and reconstructed at this site in 1930.
The Palazzo Ricca is a monumental palace, located on the southernmost end of Via dei Tribunali #231, in central Naples, region of Campania, Italy. It presently houses the archives of the Foundation of the Istituto Banco di Napoli. The palace is just down the street from the entrance to Castel Capuano