CASTEL NUOVO

Also called Maschio Angioino (Angevin dungeon), the "Château Neuf" was built from 1279 onwards by Charles I of Anjou on the model of the one in Angers. It became the new royal residence of the rulers of Naples, who had previously lived in the Castel dell'Ovo. In the second half of the 15th century, Alfonso of Aragon ousted the Angevin dynasty and had the whole complex completely redesigned by the Catalan architect Guillermo Sagrera. The castle then acquired its current silhouette clad in piperno (stone of volcanic origin), with its five massive, crenellated towers. Two of them frame the Triumphal Arch of Alfonso I of Aragon, a monumental entrance portal that marks the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance style in Naples. Erected in 1467 by artists from northern and central Italy, including Francesco Laurana, it celebrates the seizure of power by Alfonso I of Aragon. The bas-relief of the frieze depicts his triumphal entry into Naples in 1443; the sovereign figures in the centre of the procession, enthroned on a chariot covered by a baldachin. Inside the castle, the different spaces are articulated around the central courtyard. Majestic Sala dei Baroni, covered, at a height of 28 m, by a Gothic star-shaped vault. The hall takes its name from the fact that in 1486, barons allied to the Angevins and preparing a conspiracy against Ferdinand I of Aragon were arrested here. In the Sala dell'Armeria, the glass floor gives a view of the archaeological remains discovered during excavations carried out in the 1990s. These are the foundations of a Roman villa. In the Middle Ages, the area was abandoned and used as a necropolis; some tombs are visible. Not to be missed, then, is the Cappella Palatina, which opens onto the courtyard through a marble portal in Renaissance style. Inside there are several sculptures by the artists who collaborated on the Arc de Triomphe, including a Madonna and Child by Francesco Laurana, and detached frescoes from a castle in the province of Caserta. The walls of the chapel were decorated with a cycle of paintings by Giotto; unfortunately, few remains of these paintings remain. The Museo Civico occupies two floors. The first covers the history of painting in Naples from the 15th to the 18th century, with works from the various convents and churches of the city. It also shows the original bronze door of the castle, deformed at the bottom of one of the wings by a cannonball embedded in it. On the second floor there are paintings from the 18th to the 20th century.