Villa Floridiana

Summary

The Villa Floridiana is a monumental house located amid a large park in the Vomero quarter in Naples, southern Italy. It overlooks the western Neapolitan suburbs of Chiaia and Mergellina.

Villa Floridiana
Villa Floridiana
The Villa Floridiana on the Vomero hill in Naples.
Map
General information
StatusPalace now used as a museum, National Gallery
TypeVilla
Architectural styleNeo-Classical
LocationNaples, Italy
Construction started1817
Completed1819
ClientFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Technical details
Floor count2
Design and construction
Architect(s)Antonio Niccolini
Invalid designation
Official nameVilla Floridiana
TypeNon-movable
CriteriaMonument
State PartyItaly

History edit

Construction of a villa at the site was begun by Cristoforo Saliceti and his heirs; Cristoforo had been minister of police for the government of Murat. In 1817, they were forced to sell to Ferdinand I, the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies, who used it to house Lucia Migliaccio di Partanna, duchess of Floridia, whom Ferdinand had married morganatically in 1814. She resided here till her death in 1826.

Between 1817 and 1819 the architect Antonio Niccolini reconstructed the building and the surrounding gardens, landscaping in a free, English-style. The director of the Botanical Gardens, Friedrich Dehnhardt, planted oaks, pines, palms, cypresses and a large selection of flowers in the gardens.[1]

The neoclassical residence and surrounding gardens were built between 1817-19. The Villa since 1931 has housed the National Museum of Ceramics, Naples, also called the Museo Duca di Martina.[1] The Duke of Martina, second-born son of Riccardo and Maria Argentina Caracciolo, born in Naples in 1929, but moving to Paris where he began collecting decorative arts. His heirs donated the collection in 1911 to the city of Naples.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Legler, Rolf (1990). Der Golf von Neapel (in German). Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag. ISBN 3-7701-2254-2.

External links edit

  • Official website (in Italian)

40°50′22″N 14°13′48″E / 40.839400°N 14.230050°E / 40.839400; 14.230050