Enchanting scenery that unfolds to the eyes of visitors, a secret place full of history and magic atmosphere. An emotional journey that conducts visitors in the new section of the underground of Naples. It is situated in Vico del Grottone 4, from to 150 mt. to Plebiscito Square. Until a few years ago it wasa veterinary laboratory, now is the entrance of the Bourbon Tunnel. A staircase with 8 ramps, 33 yards deep descending into the belly of Chiaia. The second entry is in Via Domenico Morelli,40, through the crosswalk of “Quick parking”. The Tunnel was built in 1853 by Ferdinand II of Bourbon, who, concerned about the outbreak of rebellion, he asked for an escape from the Royal Palace to the barrack in Via della Pace, now Via Morelli. The work was uncompleted and, during the second World War, was used by residents of the area as a military hospital, later becoming the Hall Judicial Deposit. The war left its mark even in the subsoil. That’s way there are handwrite, folding beds, messages of wish and desolation of those who lived it and still maintains its memory. Along the tunnel thereare also the evidences, 530 meters, where visitors can discover the history of real life. Through the spacious streets, it’s easy reachable the network of tunnels and cisterns of seventeenth-century,large buildings, where worked the "pozzari", the only connoisseur of Naples underground.The show is stunning, but that's not finished. On Via Morelli appear statues dating back to fascist period and many cars and motorcycles, abandoned for years, freed from piles of rubbish, arranged and illuminated ad hoc for the route.Nothing is left to chance, even lighting, perfectly integrated with the path of the visitors.Since today everything is possible to visit. Five years ago the scenery was completely different.Rubbish, degradation, wastes of all kinds covered the reliquaries.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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www.galleriaborbonica.com/en/history
During the war period, between 1939 and 1945, the Tunnel and some former neighboring cisterns were used as shelter for citizens. Here found refuge between 5,000 and 10,000 Neapolitans, many of whom lost their homes during the numerous bombings suffered by the city, both by the allies and the Germans.
Different entrances were created to allow safe access to people. In particular, a spiral staircase was made, just at the end of the work of architect Alvino, which allowed access to the Tunnel from Carolina Square. From the nearby palace of the Prefecture was also created a horizontal link that was inserted right on the spiral staircase to allow the employees of the palace to reach the shelter.
In addition, the tunnel and surrounding environments were equipped with electrical systems and restrooms by the UNPA engineers - the National Union of Air raid Protection - using economic resources from the Ministry of Interior and the City of Naples; at the same time, most of the walls and vaults of the environments were covered with white lime with the dual aim of avoiding the breakup of the tuff and improving the brightness of the spaces.
After the war and until 1970, the Bourbon Tunnel was used as a Police Car Pound where all that had been extracted from the rubble caused by the two hundred bombings suffered by Naples was stored. Here was collected all that until the '70s was recovered from collapses, evictions and seizures.
In 2007 geologists working in the tunnel discovered a walled passage that separated it from another large cavity that had been turned into an air-raid shelter. In these environments the same geologists found another access to the shelter, which in the 17th century was already an entrance to the subsoil. The passage was used by the "pozzari", upkeepers that worked for the maintenance of the cisterns. This is a narrow staircase of 75 steps that leads to a room in Vico del Grottone, behind the church of Piazza Plebiscito.
In addition to the numerous vehicles and motorbikes, under 8 meters of debris, several statues of different periods have been found, including the funeral monument in honour of Captain Aurelio Padovani, captain of Bersaglieri during the First World War and founder of the Neapolitan fascist party.
The Bourbon Tunnel of Naples
An underground military viaduct of mid-nineteenth century
By Gianluca Minin and Enzo De Luzio
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