This time we visit the residences that have hosted, over the centuries, the various royal dynasties that have alternated on the throne of Southern Italy. We will therefore visit the Maschio Angioino and the Royal Palace, leaving aside the Castel Capuano which was the first palace of the Angevin dynasty and today is the seat of judicial offices, and therefore can only be visited on special occasions. We start from Piazza Municipio (Municipio stop of Line 1 of the Metro) to begin the visit to the Maschio Angioino, or Castel Nuovo, according to the original name. It must be said that very little remains of the Angevin, as the Aragonese dynasty, which took over from the Angevin one in 1442, profoundly transformed the castle, starting with the magnificent triumphal arch that Alfonso of Aragon had erected on the front of the castle to celebrate his entry into the city.
The castle is almost completely open to visitors for people with motion disabilities; in particular, the following are accessible: the Palatine Chapel, with the remains of frescoes from the Giotto school;
the Civic Museum (*), with paintings and sacred furnishings from past centuries and with the bronze door by Guglielmo Monaco (15th century);
the Sala dei Baroni, famous for the arrest there of the noble conspirators against Ferrante d'Aragona, who tried them and had them beheaded. To access the hall, ask the ticket office for directions to the lift;
the Armory Room, which allows, from the glass floor, to see the underlying Roman archaeological evidence of what was probably the villa of Lucio Licinio Lucullo, which extended on the islet of Megaride where today there is Castel dell'Ovo.
After the visit to the Maschio Angioino, if we are at lunchtime we can stop at this restaurant that meets our requirements (ask the staff for the most suitable accommodation to reach the bathrooms): Trattoria Medina (*): Via Medina 43, Naples 081 551 5233 www.trattoriamedina.it After lunch you can head towards what, after the Spanish Viceroy and then the Austrian Viceroy, will become the Royal Palace (*) with the Bourbons, then with the French, then again with the Bourbons and finally with the Savoia.
Palazzo Reale overlooks the magnificent Piazza Plebiscito and is fully accessible, including the gardens, for the physically disabled. The visit to the royal apartments allows you to admire the Royal Chapel, and then halls, furnishings, rooms, libraries, paintings and other magnificences.
A look at the Hanging Gardens:
At the end of the visit to the Royal Palace, you can take a small detour towards Via Toledo to visit Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano (*). This is the representative office of an important banking institution which has transformed it into an art gallery open to the public; there are permanently exhibited the works owned by the bank (including a magnificent "Martyrdom of Sant'Orsola" by Caravaggio, many works by Neapolitan landscape painters and a collection by Vincenzo Gemito) and important temporary exhibitions are held there. The entrance for the disabled is located on the left side of the building. www.gallerieditalia.com/it/napoli/
Leaving Palazzo Zevallos, we continue our pedestrian path heading towards Via Chiaia, a traditional shopping street, to then arrive in the center of the elegant center of Naples, namely Piazza dei Martiri. From here, taking Via Alabardieri, we arrive at the other restaurant we have selected (it is also a food store): Osteria del Gourmeet (*): Via Alabardieri 8, Naples 081 7944131 www.gourmeet.it (*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for the disabled Finally, always faithful to the principle that our itineraries are not dogmas, but can be dismantled and reassembled at will, we add a final indication for a structure that is easily accessible from the restaurant. This is the Palazzo delle Arti in Naples (PAN) (*), a permanent exhibition space that the Municipality of Naples has created in Palazzo Carafa di Roccella and which hosts exhibitions and displays relating to all the visual arts that are expressed in the contemporary world:
As a symbolic image of the P.A.N. we like to attach the photo of the Mehari, the car where the young journalist Giancarlo Siani was killed by the camorra in 1985; the machine is permanently exhibited in the internal courtyard of the P.A.N.
