Castel Nuovo

History

The original nucleus of the estate—partially uncovered through restoration and archaeological excavations—was built on the initiative of Charles I of Anjou. In 1266, after defeating the Hohenstaufens, Charles ascended to the throne of Sicily and moved the capital from Palermo to Naples.

The presence of an external monarchy had set the town planning of Naples around the center of the royal power, constituting an alternative urban core, formed by the port and by the two main castles adjacent to it, Castel Capuano and Castel dell'Ovo. This relationship between the royal court and town planning had already manifested itself with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who in the 13th century, in the Swabian statute had concentrated greater attention on castles neglecting the city walls. To the two existing castles the Anjevins added the main, Castel Nuovo (Chastiau neuf), which was not just a fortification but above all his magnificent palace.

The royal residence of Naples had been until then the Castel Capuano, but the Norman ancient fortress was judged as inadequate to the function and the king wanted to build a new castle near the sea.

The project was designed by the French architect Pierre de Chaulnes, the construction of the Castrum Novum started in 1279 to finish just three years later, a very short time considering the techniques of construction of the period and the overall size of the work. However, the king never lived there: following the War of the Sicilian Vespers, which cost to the House of Anjou the crown of Sicily, conquered by Peter III of Aragon and other events, the new palace remained unused until 1285, the year of the death of Charles I. …

People who have lived in the castle

The Castel Nuovo, in the course of its history, has been used several times as a temporary residence to host illustrious personalities who went to Naples as guests of the royal court or on an official visit.

Among the main personalities, beside Neapolitean, Aragonese and Spanish monarchs, are: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giotto, Pope Boniface VIII, Pope Celestine V and Petrarch.

Description

Most of the castle as it stands today has been reconstructed by Alfonso V of Aragon. It has an irregularly trapezoidal plan and was defended by five large cylindrical towers, four covered with piperno and one with tuff, and crowned with merlons on brackets. The three towers on the land-facing side, where the entrance is located, are (from left to right) the Tower of San Giorgio, the Torre di Mezzo (the 'Middle Tower', which collapsed on 4 August 1876) and the Torre della Guardia (the 'Guard Tower'), while the two on the sea-facing side are (from left to right) the Torre dell'Oro ('Tower of Gold') and the Torre di Beverello ('Tower of Beverello', named after the port). The castle is surrounded by a moat and the towers rise on large embankments, in which the texture of the stone blocks takes on complex designs, recalling Catalan Mallorcan examples.

The internal staircase to each of the towers is commonly called scala catalan, 'Catalan staircase'. They lead through doors to the roof of the castle, where sentries were once stationed to keep a lookout from above for any approaching enemy.

On the northern side, at the Beverello Tower, one of the Crusader windows of the Sala dei Baroni ('Baron's Hall') opens; while two other windows face the eastern side, one towards the sea and the other, along the back wall of the Palatine Chapel, with single-light windows between two narrow polygonal towers. Protected by the other corner tower, Torre d'Oro, then follows an advanced factory building that originally supported a loggia and a re-entering stretch with two overlapping loggias.

The imposing single-sided white marble triumphal arch, built in 1470, commemorates Alfonso of Aragon's entry to Naples in 1443. It stands between two western towers of the Angevin castle. The overall design had been attributed to Pietro di Martina, a Milanese architect, or, according to Vasari, to Giuliano da Maiano. Modern authors attribute the design to Francesco Laurana.

It is 35 meters tall and has been elongated into two stacked arches. Some reports claim that the arches had originally been planned as the two faces to a frestanding arch for the Piazza del Duomo, but that an officer in the service of Alfonso, Nicola Bozzuto, whose house was to be razed to make room for the monument, induced the king to alter the site to the Castel Nuovo. …

Civic museum

Inside the Castel Nuovo there is a museum itinerary inaugurated in 1990 which starts from the 14th-century Palatine Chapel, passing through the Armory Room up to the first and second level of the castle, the latter destined for painting and sculpture.

On the first floor there are frescoes and paintings essentially of religious commissions, belonging from the 15th to 18th centuries. There are paintings by important Caravaggisti artists as Battistello Caracciolo and Fabrizio Santafede, and important exponents of the Neapolitan Baroque, as Luca Giordano, Francesco Solimena and Mattia Preti. On the second floor there are exhibited works ranging from the 18th to 20th centuries. The exhibition follows a thematic order: history, landscapes, portraits, views of Naples.

Other halls of the castle, such as the Hall of Charles V and the Loggia Room, are finally destined for temporary cultural exhibitions and initiatives.