Galleria Umberto I
Naples
The Galleria Umberto I is a splendid example of 19th-century iron-and-glass architecture in the heart of Naples. With its imposing dome and mosaic floors, it is an elegant covered passage full of cafés and shops. It stands opposite the Teatro San Carlo, a few steps from the Royal Palace.
The history of the Galleria
The Galleria Umberto I was built between 1887 and 1890, as part of the great urban renewal of Naples that followed the terrible cholera epidemic of 1884. The design, by the engineer Emanuele Rocco, was part of a plan to renew the central districts. The gallery was named after King Umberto I and immediately became an elegant meeting place for the Neapolitan middle classes.
Iron-and-glass architecture
The gallery has a cross-shaped plan, with four arms meeting under a wide iron-and-glass dome, whose spire tip reaches about 57 metres, in the style of the great 19th-century European arcades. Light filters down from above onto floors decorated with marble mosaics, including the signs of the zodiac. The inner façades, rich in stucco, statues and decorations, recall the splendour of the eclecticism of the time.
Comparison with Milan and social life
The Galleria Umberto I is often compared to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, built a little earlier, with which it shares the type of the monumental covered passage. For decades the Neapolitan gallery was a lively hub of social life, frequented by artists, journalists and intellectuals, and it also became the setting of famous literary works set in 20th-century Naples.
Visiting the Galleria Umberto I
The gallery is near via Toledo, opposite the Teatro San Carlo and close to Piazza del Plebiscito and the Royal Palace. It is freely open and can be walked through. It's worth looking up to admire the dome and stopping to look at the floor mosaics. An elegant stop on the treasure map in the centre of Naples.
