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NAPLES - MUSEUM
Naples
is the capital of the region of
Campania and of the province of
Naples. The city is known for
its rich history, art, culture
and gastronomy, playing an
important role throughout much
of its existence; it is over
2,800 years old. Naples is
located halfway between two
volcanic areas, the volcano
Mount Vesuvius and the
Phlegraean Fields, sitting on
the coast by the Gulf of Naples.
Museum:
The building that houses the museum was
completed in the first years of the 17th
century, making use of a structure erected
some years earlier. It was inaugurated in
1615 as the "Palace of Royal Studies", the
seat of the university of Naples. When the
university moved elsewhere in 1777, King
Ferdinand IV commissioned the architect
Ferdinando Fuga to restore and adapt the
building to accommodate the Bourbon Museum
and Royal Library. It continued to undergo
modifications, most notably the addition of
a second storey on both flanks of the
central edifice. At the turn of the century
the sumptuous Farnese collections of
pictures, books and antiquities were moved
in from the Capodimonte museum and the
various royal residences, to be followed by
the finds from Pompei, Herculaneum and
Stabiae. Thus by 1816 the "Royal Bourbon
Museum" could boast the combined riches of
the Farnese collection and the Vesuvian
antiquities. |
