Galleria Borbonica, Naples

The Galleria Borbonica is an underground passage beneath Pizzofalcone, built to link Naples’ Royal Palace with military barracks. Its purpose was practical and political: Ferdinand II commissioned Errico Alvino to create a rapid route for troops, while also giving the royal household an escape path during unrest. The planned route was designed with two lanes and two sidewalks, but the work never reached its intended eastern outlet.

Construction began in 1853, and the tunnel was opened in 1855 after Alvino carried it across active water cisterns by means of underground bridges. The passage also met older channels connected to the Carmignano aqueduct, built between 1627 and 1629. During the Second World War, these spaces became an air-raid shelter, equipped with electricity, bunks, kitchen utensils, and latrines for people who might remain underground for many days.

Today, the tunnel’s layers of abandonment are part of what you encounter: vintage cars and motorcycles, heaps of recovered debris, and fragments of a fascist monument dedicated to Aurelio Padovani. The site returned to public view in 2010 after volunteers cleared the buried spaces.