Palazzo Serra di Cassano
On the hill of Pizzofalcone, the elegant neighborhood overlooking the Gulf, there is a palace that tells its most famous story not through what it shows, but through what it stubbornly keeps hidden.
The main facade of Palazzo Serra di Cassano faces the Royal Palace, but its monumental front door has been barred since 1799. It was Duke Luigi Serra di Cassano who closed it forever, as a sign of mourning and eternal protest against the Bourbons, guilty of beheading his son Gennaro, a heroic 27-year-old martyr of the Neapolitan Republic. Since that fatal day, the family and guests have only entered through the rear entrance on Via Monte di Dio.
Crossing this "secondary" access, however, reveals a universe of dazzling beauty. Visitors are welcomed by the spectacular double-ramp staircase in piperno stone and marble, an absolute masterpiece by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice, which rises upwards like a theatrical embrace. Today, the lavish halls of the piano nobile (noble floor), once the scene of aristocratic parties, guard an immense treasure: they are home to the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici (Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies), one of the most prestigious libraries and research centers in Europe. Visiting Palazzo Serra di Cassano means walking
INFORMAZIONI
ADDRESS: Via Monte di Dio, 14, 80132 Napoli (NA)
PHONE NUMBER: +39 081 764139
