Palazzo Vicereale: the forgotten royal residence

It stood in Piazza Trieste e Trento, diagonally between the Royal Palace and the San Carlo theatre. It was built in 1543 and demolished in 1837, with a modest façade and two corner towers. Inside there was a chapel, whose carved wooden portal still exists today, serving as the entrance door to the chapel of the Royal Palace.

by Alessia Giannino

The Palazzo Vicereale in Naples is also known as Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace).

History

With the fall of the Aragonese, in 1503 the Kingdom of Naples was conquered by Spain, whose rule lasted around two centuries. Although this has been described as a dark period, the city at the time was one of the largest and most important in Europe and, for this reason, retained a lively cultural and artistic ferment. During that period it was governed by viceroys and, under the rule of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga, the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarters) were laid out, and it was then that the Palazzo Vicereale was built.

The viceroy chose the far end of Via Toledo as the location for his residence, construction of which began in 1543 to a design by the architects Ferdinando Manlio and Giovanni Banincasa. Besides the splendid Palazzo itself, in 1540 work also began on a garden, adorned with exotic plants and animals, whose decorations were entrusted to Giovanni Tommaso Villani. Following the death of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga, his successor, Fernando Ruiz de Castro, decided in 1600 to build a new Royal Palace, entrusting the project to the architect Domenico Fontana. This new palace rose right beside the Palazzo Vicereale, one of whose towers was demolished, with its construction also making use of the land once occupied by the gardens.

In 1734 Naples once again became the capital of an independent kingdom under the Bourbons. Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies, had the Royal Palace enlarged, and what had been the Palazzo Vicereale was finally demolished, with all its works of art transferred to the "new" residence.