Piazza Cavour
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (August 2026) |
 Piazza Cavour, with Via Foria in view | |
 Interactive map of Piazza Cavour | |
| Former name | Largo delle Pigne |
|---|---|
| Location | Naples, Italy |
| Quarter | Stella, San Lorenzo |
Piazza Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour, commonly known as Piazza Cavour (formerly Largo delle Pigne), is a square in the Historic Centre of Naples, lying between the Stella and San Lorenzo districts.
Among the streets that open onto the square are Via Foria and Via Costantinopoli, and it lies a short distance from the National Archaeological Museum. The square is largely taken up by gardens running the length of its central section, which enclose the two metro stations at its lateral ends as well as the Fontana del Tritone.
History
[edit]
The old Largo delle Pigne took its name from the pine trees once found there ('e pigne in Neapolitan), and like Foria it served as a major collector of rainwater flowing down from the hills outside the city walls.
Since ancient times the square had been bordered by the city's northern walls and by the old Porta San Gennaro, so named because it led to the catacombs where the remains of the martyr saint had once rested.
Part of Belisarius's army camped in this open ground during the siege of Naples, and it was through Porta San Gennaro that his troops entered the city.
In the 16th century, in 1537, the city walls were extended outward, a project promoted by Don Pedro de Toledo. The first buildings in the area went up during this period, notably the Palazzo della Cavallerizza (today the National Archaeological Museum) and the lower part of Stella, known as le Cavaiole because it was home to families from Cava, that is, Cava de' Tirreni. The district was reached by a bridge built as part of the construction of the Porta di Costantinopoli, which crossed the moat and linked the area to the gate and so to the city.
In 1812 Joachim Murat had the entire stretch of road from the Museum to the Albergo dei Poveri and beyond redeveloped, a project that involved filling in the moats around the square and clearing away the buildings that had narrowed the passage.
Throughout the 19th century, however, the square remained a shapeless, disorderly place, crowded with shacks, huts, stonemasons' workshops and other open-air trades. It also served as a favoured setting for circuses, fairs and exhibitions of various kinds. In 1835 Luigi Malesci redeveloped the square.
In 1870 the square was planted with the gardens that still exist today, restoring the greenery lost when the historic pine trees were removed in 1730. It was during this period that the Fontana del Tritone was built.
In 1925 the station of the direttissima was built, the through railway line connecting Naples directly with Rome, today known as Line 2 of the Naples metropolitan railway service.
In the 1950s, the rush to rebuild the city produced the row of apartment blocks on the southern side that literally hem in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, along with the large building at the foot of the Caponapoli hill.
That last building was designed by Camillo Guerra and completed in 1954. It had originally been planned as the new home of the Ospedale degli Incurabili, but its enormous size made it unsuitable for hospital use, and it became home to several schools instead.
The new buildings destroyed the row of 19th-century palazzi whose modest height (no more than two storeys) had allowed views of the Caponapoli hill above and, on the site later occupied by Guerra's building, of traces of the old defensive walls. The 19th-century row of buildings, also found along the stretch of Via Foria between Via Duomo and Porta San Gennaro, survives intact from that building as far as Via Costantinopoli. The well-known Teatro Partenope, built in 1828 to the right of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, disappeared as well.
In 2001 the Museo station of Line 1 opened at the far end of the square, and the occasion prompted a major overhaul of its street furniture and road layout.
Description
[edit]
To the east lies the National Archaeological Museum, while to the south stands the Porta San Gennaro, the old ceremonial gate of the city and the only one of the four to have kept, over time, the fresco by Mattia Preti commissioned to mark the end of the 1656 plague.
Numerous historic buildings stand around the square: to the south, before the gate, the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie a Piazza Cavour and the Palazzo Montemajor, and to the north the church of Santa Maria del Rosario alle Pigne, the Palazzo Rosati and the Palazzo Petina. Beyond the gate stands the Chiesa del Gesù delle Monache, which had been intended as the pantheon of the Aragonese royal family, a plan abandoned once the kingdom became a viceroyalty.
On the north side, behind an unassuming doorway, is the entrance to a large quarry that in the past was open to visitors.
Behind the square lies the entrance to the Rione Sanità, and near the Museo station is a commemorative plaque honouring Totò (born Antonio de Curtis), who was born and grew up in the neighbouring district. The plaque reads:
The mask and the grimace, the face and the sneer (translation) |
Transport
[edit]The square is served by:
- the Museo station of Line 1 of the Naples Metro
- Napoli Piazza Cavour railway station, served by the metropolitan trains of Line 2
The two stations are linked by an underground pedestrian passage with two moving walkways.
Thanks to its central location, the square is also easily reached by public transport.
Bibliography
[edit]- Ruggiero, Gennaro. Le piazze di Napoli. Tascabili economici Newton, Rome, 1998. ISBN 88-7983-846-6
