Corso Vittorio Emanuele , Napoli

As one of the longest, most important, and panoramic roads in Naples, today it winds along for almost 5 km.

It was originally built at the behest of Ferdinand II of Bourbon in the second half of the 19th century.

The king’s ambitious project, commissioned to five architects and urban planners of the time

Errico Alvino

Francesco Saponieri

Luigi Cangiano

Antonio Francesconi

and Francesco Gavaudan

was to create a road that connected the lower part of the city with the upper part, in particular the nascent district of Vomero.

Initially, the project envisaged the road divided into three sections: the first branched off from Piedigrotta to Suor Orsola Benincasa, while the second extended up to “Infrascata,” the name of which was changed in 1869 to Salvator Rosa.

Finally, the last section was supposed to reach Capodimonte, but it was never built.

Despite the large scope of the project, the works were done in a hurry, and in fact, by April 6, 1853, the road was laid out.

Shortly after, in May of the same year, it was inaugurated by the royal family with the name of Corso Maria Teresa, in honor of the queen. As a result, the first section was completed in 1860.

Crucially, once the course was inaugurated, Ferdinand II issued the recritti, a decree that prohibited the creation of new buildings in order to preserve the unique panorama,

day and night, overlooking the Gulf of Naples.

Consequently, the buildings were constructed only on the side of the mountain.

For this reason, today along this road, you can admire many historic buildings, including

Palazzo Calabritto

Palazzo del Banco di Napoli

and Palazzo della Borsa.

Later on, after the unification of Italy, the street changed its name to become Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in honor of the first king of Italy.

The works continued over the years, and by 1873, the second section was completed, which ended at the current Piazza Mazzini (formerly Salvator Rosa).

It was there that the statue of the jurist and historian Paolo Emilio Embriani, created by Tito Angelini in 1877, was placed. Interestingly, for many years Neapolitans associated the statue with Mazzini. 

Didascalia/Testo

Anna Saggiomo