Two years ago, in August 2021, we created a post for the inauguration of the House Museum dedicated to Enrico Caruso, on the centenary of his death. This 2023 marks one hundred and fifty years since the birth of the great Neapolitan tenor, an anniversary which was celebrated with the inauguration of the Caruso Museum, housed in the Sala Dorica of Palazzo Reale, also here in Naples. To present it we use an extract of the text contained in the Royal Palace website (the complete text, accompanied by photos, is in the link above): The Caruso Museum is the first national museum dedicated to Enrico Caruso, one of the greatest tenors of all time. A single large space, the monumental Sala Dorica, hosts not a simple exhibition of memorabilia but a real room of wonders, with 3D animations and multimedia platforms, musical and cinematographic stations and installations. The permanent museum, curated by Laura Valente, offers an overall journey on Caruso, the first great modern media figure, and on his fundamental contribution to the creation of a wider network of Italian artists who wrote fundamental pages in the history of the development of the art industry show, as well as the artistic disciplines in which they have ventured. The first aspect allows us to pay a dutiful homage and fills a serious gap. The other theme is a proud affirmation of Italian and Neapolitan culture. Caruso and Naples have touched each other few times if you think about the stage and yet Caruso expresses all the powerful incisiveness of a 'brand' that links Italy to the excellence of artists never equaled and who in his case sublimate the concept of the "greatest singer never existed." For our part we add a photographic contribution:
It only remains to say that the Sala Dorica is accessed from an internal courtyard of the Royal Palace, without any problem for those traveling in wheelchairs. At this point it seems right to unify this new post with the 2021 one, which we report below: *************************************************************************************************************************************** On 2 August 2021, one hundred years after his death, after years and years of discussions and various difficulties, the Enrico Caruso House Museum will be inaugurated, located in what was the birthplace of the great opera interpreter, in Via Santi Giovanni and Paolo 7 in Naples. While waiting for it to be possible to visit it physically and not only via QR code, perhaps also for the physically disabled (but we highly doubt it...) we show you the façade (awaiting restoration):
The Museum was created with some of the objects exhibited in the similar museum in New York; other news is easily available online. For our part, we want to give you directions to reach the Piazza Ottocalli area where, in addition to the House Museum, there is both a bust and a mural dedicated to the great tenor. Starting from Piazza Cavour, where the Museum station of Metro Line 1 is located, continue along Via Foria, arriving at Piazza Carlo III, take Via Giovanni Gussone and, on the left, Via Santi Giovanni e Paolo, after which there is Piazza Ottocalli. The itinerary is quite long, it is advisable to do it with a motorized vehicle, preferably on the right pavement of Via Foria. Let's now take a look at the bust of Caruso, overlooked by a viaduct of the ring road:
And this is the mural, also located in Piazza Ottocalli:
