Filangieri Museum: A Journey Through Time in the Heart of Naples

Welcome to the Civic Museum Gaetano Filangieri, a rare treasure trove brimming with discoveries.

Prepare for a unique experience, a dive into a past that will amaze and fascinate you, born from the visionary and enlightened mind of Prince Gaetano Filangieri. It's not just a museum, but a true time machine that will transport you back to the lavish style of the great 19th-century Expos.

The Walking Palace: An Incredible Story 

The history of this museum is inseparable from that of its container: Palazzo Como, a magnificent 15th-century building that Neapolitans nicknamed the "Walking Palace." And it truly walked! During the "Risanamento" (Urban Renewal) works in Naples, following the terrible cholera epidemic of 1884, the palace was destined for demolition to widen the ancient Via Duomo.

It was then that Prince Gaetano Filangieri, with firm determination, convinced the City Council to undertake an extraordinary feat: moving the entire building back by twenty meters, thus saving its wonderful Renaissance ashlar facade.

The Vision of a Prince: "Beauty in Utility"

Gaetano Filangieri did not want to create a mere place of preservation. His dream was a museum that would serve as a formative model for future artists and artisans, a place where education in "beauty" would merge with education in "beauty in utility." By making his entire collections available, he offered exceptional models from which young apprentices could learn, developing new creations and carrying forward Naples' extraordinary artisanal excellence.

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Architectural Wonders and Hidden Treasures

Every corner of the museum reflects the care and foresight of its founder. As soon as you enter, the adventure begins.

The Carlo Filangieri Hall: A Gilded Castle

The ground floor welcomes you into the Carlo Filangieri Hall, an environment reminiscent of the austere halls of a castle. Look up: to capture the sunlight of Naples, the Prince had a splendid vaulted ceiling with a golden mosaic of Venetian manufacture created, which floods the room with an almost magical light.

The Spiral Staircase: A Passage Through Time

To ascend to the upper floor, you will walk up a spiral staircase made of piperno, an almost indestructible volcanic stone. With its 40 steps and walls studded with coats of arms, you'll feel like you're crossing a temporal threshold, arriving in an almost medieval atmosphere.

The Agata Hall: An Explosion of Light and Color

After the staircase, you'll be breathless. The Agata Hall is an explosion of light, thanks to two masterpieces:

• The Majolica Floor: A magnificent work, created in the Artistic Industrial Museum's Workshop Schools under the artistic direction of Filippo Palizzi.

  Among the coats of arms and decorations, look for one of the first modern logos in history: Vesuvius smoking with the acronym M.S.O. (Museo Scuole Officine).

• The Skylight: In place of the ceiling, a splendid iron and glass structure created by the Cottrau company floods the space with the natural light of the Neapolitan sky, as the Prince desired.

Extraordinary Collections from Around the World

The museum's halls are a triumph of art and beauty, with collections ranging from paintings to weapons, sculptures to porcelains.

• The Picture Gallery: The walls are entirely covered with masterpieces using the 18th-century "incrustation" technique. You'll admire works by masters such as Jusepe de Ribera (with his touching *Saint Mary of Egypt*), Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti, and many other painters from the 16th to the 20th century.

• Weapons and Armor: An impressive collection ranging from samurai katanas to Persian weapons, and even an entire Edo period samurai armor. Don't miss the spectacular "Trophy of Arms," a radiating display of ancient swords converging on a shield with Medusa's head.

• Sculptural Masterpieces: Let yourself be moved by works such as Francesco Jerace's *Victa*, an allegory of Poland "defeated but not subdued," and the marvelous glazed terracotta head of a young boy by Luca Della Robbia.

• Porcelain and Applied Arts: The wooden hanging walkway will guide you through display cases exhibiting exquisite porcelains from Capodimonte, Meissen, and biscuit ware from the Royal Ferdinandea Factory, telling the story of an art form that found its highest expression in Naples.

The Temple of Knowledge: The Filangieri Library 

Finally, enter the most intimate place in the museum: the library. Conceived as a family temple, it is dedicated to Gaetano Filangieri senior, the founder's grandfather, a great Enlightenment philosopher and jurist.

Here, the original manuscript of his most celebrated work, *The Science of Legislation*, which achieved international success, is preserved. His influence was such that he initiated a prolific correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, who was inspired by his ideas on the "right to happiness" for the drafting of the American Declaration of Independence.

As a journalist wrote at the inauguration in 1888, "The Civic Filangieri Museum is the best monument the noble gentleman could erect to his illustrious ancestors, to his valiant father, to himself."

A visit that is a continuous emotion, a legacy of beauty and intelligence left to the city of Naples and the entire world.

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