Napoli - Palazzo Reale di Napoli

Napoli is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy. Its metropolitan area has a population of more than 3 million.

Founded by Greek settlers before 900 BC, Napoli was an important part of Magna Graecia and played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society.

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire Napoli was shortly ruled by the Ostrogoths. Byzantine troops captured the city in 536m but after the Byzantine exarchate Ravenna fell a Duchy of Naples was created. Over centuries the Duchy´s relations to Rome or Byzanz were hard-fought. In 836 Napoli could repel a siege of Lombard troops with the help of the Saracens, what did not prevent Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas in the 850s loot Napoli. In the 11th century, the Duchy hired Norman mercenaries and about 1140 it came under Norman control under Roger II, then King of Sicily.

In 1228 Emperor Frederick II founded the first university in Europe here, making Napoli the intellectual centre of the kingdom. The conflict between the House of Hohenstaufen and the Papacy led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning the Angevin duke Charles I King of Sicily. Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Napoli.

In 1282 after the "Sicilian Vespers", a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily against the rule of King Charles I, the Kingdom of Sicily was divided into two. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.

By the 17th century, Naples had become Europe's second-largest city – second only to Paris – with around 250000 inhabitants.

The Royal Palace was constructed in the 17th century to house King Philip III of Spain on a visit never fulfilled to this part of his kingdom. So it housed initially the Viceroy Fernando Ruiz de Castro. By 1616, the facade had been completed, the decoration of the Royal Chapel of Assumption was completed in 1644.

With the arrival of Charles III of Spain to Naples in 1734, the palace became the royal residence of the Bourbons. Alterations took place under Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. By the 18th century, the royal residence was moved to Caserta, as that inland town, about 25km north, was more distant from the often-rebellious populace of Naples.

During the Napoleonic occupation, the palace was enriched by Joachim Murat and his wife, Caroline Bonaparte, with Neoclassic decorations. After a fire in 1837 restorations were done from 1838 to 1858. Since 1925 the palace houses the National Library and a museum.