Adjacent, on the W., lies the Piazza del Municipio (Pl. F, 6), with the Municipio or town-hall at its W. end. On the S.E. side of this piazza is the approach to the—
Castel Nuovo (Pl. F, 6), built for Charles I. of Anjou in 1279–83, and afterwards much enlarged. It was the residence successively of the kings of the houses of Anjou and Aragon and the Spanish viceroys, but is now used as barracks. The inner gateway of the castle (adm. free) consists of a *Triumphal Arch, flanked with two towers, in the early Renaissance style, erected in 1451–70 in memory of the entry of Alphonso I. of Aragon (1442).
From the Piazza del Municipio the Strada San Carlo leads to the S.W. to the Galleria Umberto Primo (Pl. E, F, 6), built in 1887–90, and vying with the grand arcade at Milan, and to the—
Piazza San Ferdinando (Pl. E, 6), the business centre of the city. (Tramcars and omnibuses, see p. [137].) On the E. side rises the Teatro San Carlo (Pl. F, 6), dating from 1737, one of the largest in Europe. Adjacent, in the large Piazza del Plebiscito, rises the Palazzo Reale (Pl. F, 6), begun in 1600.
At the Piazza San Ferdinando begins the Via Roma, the chief artery of traffic, named the Toledo down to 1870, after its founder Don Pedro de Toledo (1540). With its continuation the Salita del Museo Nazionale it ascends for over a mile, between the lanes on the slope of the Sant’Elmo hill, on the left, and the chief business part of the city, on the right, to the National Museum. This long line of streets, poor architecturally, is broken only by the small Largo della Carità (Pl. E, 5) and the Piazza Dante (Pl. E, F, 4). About halfway between these the Via Domenico Capitelli diverges to the right to the church of—
Santa Chiara (Pl. F, 4), the Pantheon of Naples, built in 1310–40, but tastelessly restored in 1742–57. The interior, planned in the French Gothic style, resembles a great public hall. Behind the high-altar is the Gothic *Monument of Robert the Wise (d. 1343), the founder of the church. The transepts contain the monuments of other Angevin kings.
The **Museo Nazionale (Pl. E, F, 3), built in 1586 as cavalry barracks, was the seat of the University from 1616 to 1780, but since 1790 has been occupied by the royal art-collections, which are among the finest in the world. Adm., see p. [137].
On the Ground Floor, in the E. wing on the right of the vestibule, are the *Greek Sculptures in marble. Entering by the first door, we begin our visit with the colonnade of the archaic sculptures (Marmi Arcáici). In the centre: 6009, 6010. Harmodios and Aristogeiton (p. [506]).—Turning to the right, we enter the rooms on the S. side of the building, which contain sculptures of the First Golden Age of Greek art (5th cent.). In the central room, 6322. Bust of Athena, probably after Cephisodotus (father of Praxiteles); by the window, two statues of Aphrodite (after Alcamenes?); I. Room on the right, 6005. So-called Hera Farnese; II. Room on the left, *6727. The famous Orpheus relief; *6024. Statue of Athena (after Phidias?). Also, in II. R. on the right, fine Mosaics.
From the colonnade of the archaic sculptures we pass through R. II into the Flora colonnade, the rooms on the right of which contain the sculptures of the Second Golden Age of Greek art (4th cent.) and of the later Greek or Hellenistic period. In the central room, 6306. Bearded Dionysus, after Praxiteles. I. Side-Room on the right, *6035. Torso of Aphrodite; without a number, Torso of a man sitting, a replica of the so-called Ares Ludovisi, after Lysippus. II. Side-Room, Farnese Hercules, after Lysippus, but coarsened. III. Side-Room on the left, Farnese Bull, a colossal group, after Apollonius and Tauriscus of Rhodes.
The third colonnade contains coloured sculptures. In the side-rooms are fragments of sculptures and buildings. Crossing the vestibule to the W. wing, we enter the—