Piazza del Plebiscito and the Royal Palace
The square of kings with the San Carlo theatre beside it
Piazza del Plebiscito is the largest and most solemn square in Naples: an immense open space closed on one side by the curved colonnade of the church of San Francesco di Paola, modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, and on the other by the long façade of the Royal Palace. Its name recalls the 1860 plebiscite that united the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to Italy.
The Palazzo Reale, residence of the Spanish viceroys and then of the Bourbon kings, can be visited: a monumental staircase leads to the royal apartments, with their furniture, tapestries and the small court theatre. The statues of the eight kings of Naples stand in niches on the façade. Next to the palace is the Teatro di San Carlo, inaugurated in 1737, the oldest working opera house in Europe, with a magnificent red and gold auditorium. Opposite, the Galleria Umberto I and the historic Caffè Gambrinus complete the scene.
Tip: there is a Neapolitan game here: try to walk blindfolded from the palace and pass between the two equestrian statues; almost nobody succeeds.
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