Castel Sant’Elmo in Naples

The project was carried out by the Spanish military architect Pedro Luis Escrivà. The first Castellan of Sant’Elmo was Don Pedro de Toledo, cousin of the viceroy, who died in 1558; his funerary monument is preserved in the sacristy of the church, located on the Castle’s Piazza d’Armi. Over the following centuries, the castle was frequently used as a prison, housing Tommaso Campanella, accused of heresy, and later the patriots of the 1799 Neapolitan revolution such as Gennaro Serra, Mario Pagano, and Luigia Sanfelice.

After serving as a Bourbon stronghold, it was a military prison until 1952. Subsequently, the fortress passed to the Military Demesne until 1976, the year when a major restoration was initiated by the Provveditorato alle Opere Pubbliche of Campania. The works enabled the recovery of the original structure, making visible the ancient pathways, patrol walks, and underground rooms, where a large Auditorium was created. In 1982, the monumental complex was handed over to the Superintendent for Artistic and Historical Heritage of Naples. Today the castle houses the offices of the Directorate of the Campania Museum Hub and the 20th Century Museum in Naples.

In the last thirty years, the castle has hosted numerous exhibitions of ancient and contemporary art, as well as an intense program of music, cinema, and theater festivals. What makes this monumental site unique are the battlements, from which visitors can admire a spectacular panorama of the entire surrounding territory, from the islands to Vesuvius, from the Phlegraean Fields to the Matese mountains.