The Palazzo Calabritto stands in the Piazza dei Martiri in Naples, but has a second entrance on Via Calabritto. It was so impressive that the king forced the original owner to sell it to him. The architect who completed the work was Luigi Vanvitelli, who was originally from the Netherlands.
Palazzo Calabritto Naples
Address, opening hours and entrance fee
Address: Piazza dei Martiri, 30 – Naples. However, there is a second entrance in Via Calabritto, 20. The building is privately owned and not open to tourists.
History and description
The Duke of Calabritto bought the land on which the current Palazzo Calabritto stands from the monks of the nearby Santa Maria a Cappella Monastery towards the end of the 17th century.
He had his own residence built there, but it was not yet completed when he died in 1736. His son Vincenzo was hereafter forced to sell the palace for 37,600 ducats to the then King Charles III of Bourbon.
The king then did not even have the palace completed and in 1754 the Tuttavilla family took over the building. Thehe king was paid the same sum he had previously paid for the palace. Luigi Vanvitelli was hereafter commissioned to finish the work.
Vanvitelli renovated the façade and the two entrances. He was also responsible for the courtyard with its double atrium and the stairs leading to the terrace overlooking the sea.
Later, the palace was divided and sold to three different owners.
At the façade on Piazza dei Martiri, the large balcony of the piano nobile and the smaller balconies above the shop spaces stand out. The entrance on the Via Calabritto is framed by two columns crowned by women’s heads.