Piazza Dante in Naples runs along the perimeter of the ancient city. Defined in the seventeenth century as “Largo del Mercatello”, just outside the viceregal walls that surrounded the city, foodstuffs were stored in the “Grain pits” building and in the oil tanks. The area was transformed into a square in 1757 by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773) with the Carolino Forum.

Architect of Charles of Bourbon, also involved in the construction of the palace of Caserta, Vanvitelli created the large semicircular hemicycle which was to act as a scenic backdrop to the king’s equestrian monument, which was never built: in its place the Dante monument was built in 1872 by Tito Angelini .

The hemicycle, later transformed into the entrance to the Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, includes Port’Alba in its structure, named after the viceroy Duke of Alba who wanted to build it in 1625.

THE SUBWAY FULL OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Designed by Gae Aulenti (2002), the Piazza Dante Metro Station boasts of being among the most beautiful stops on the new line 1, adorned in the stations with contemporary works of art and archaeological renovations. On the way down to the trains, the traveler encounters works by Jannis Kounellis, Joseph Kosuth, Nicola de Maria, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Carlo Alfano.