Naples was a thriving city in the early 18th century, both larger and wealthier than Rome, but it also had a significant impoverished population. Carlo III, the Bourbon King of Naples and Sicily, conceived the idea of a Royal Almshouse, where the 8,000 destitute citizens could obtain shelter, nourishment, and work. (...)
Naples was a thriving city in the early 18th century, both larger and wealthier than Rome, but it also had a significant impoverished population. Carlo III, the Bourbon King of Naples and Sicily, conceived the idea of a Royal Almshouse, where the 8,000 destitute citizens could obtain shelter, nourishment, and work. In 1752, Ferdinando Fuga began construction on the massive, seven-story Real Albergo dei Poveri. The scale of the project was meant to emphasize the power of Carlo III’s regime as well as suit its daily function. The complex was designed to house four categories of people: men, women, children, and the elderly. Once inside, the groups did not mix; even families were separated. Of the three internal courtyards, one was reserved for females, one for males, and the last for the administration.
This social experiment was meant to be continued with the construction of a church in the center of the complex, a panopticon model equipped with distinct entrances and sections for each of the groups. Though envisioned years before Jeremy Bentham’s famed panoptic prison, the church was never completed. In 1980 an earthquake collapsed one wing of the building, prompting renewed interest and conservation efforts.
