Palazzo di Capodimonte - Naples, Italy
N 40° 52.042 E 014° 15.028
33T E 436836 N 4524304
The Royal Palace of Capodimonte (Italian: Reggia di Capodimonte) is a large palazzo in Naples, Italy. It was formerly the summer residence and hunting lodge of the Bourbon kings of the Two Sicilies, one of the two royal palaces in Naples.
Waymark Code: WM17W01
Location: Campania, Italy
Date Posted: 04/10/2023
Views: 4
In 1738, King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III, king of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on the Capodimonte hill. He then decided that he would instead build a grand palace (a Royal Palace, as in Italian Reggia means Royal), partly because his existing residence, the Palace of Portici, was too small to accommodate his court, and partly because he needed somewhere to house the fabulous Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma.
Work to build the palace started in August 1738. It was to take more than a century to complete, partly because of the difficulty of transporting piperno, the volcanic rock used, from the quarries in Pianura.
In 1759, Ferdinand I succeeded his father Charles.
During the 10 years of French occupation (1806-1815), the palace was the residence of Joseph Bonaparte and then of Joachim Murat.
Francesco I succeeded his father Ferdinand in 1825. The palace was finally completed in 1840, and a gallery housing contemporary art was added.
With Italian Unification, the royal palace passed in 1861 to the House of Savoy who used it as a residence.
In the early 20th century, the palace became the residence of the Dukes of Aosta. Then in 1920 it became the property of the Italian state. In 1950 it became a museum with many of the exhibits being returned from the National Museum.
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