Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples
Updated
Piazza del Plebiscito opens before you as a vast public square in central Naples, framed by the Royal Palace and the church of San Francesco di Paola. The square takes its name from the plebiscite held on October 21, 1860, which brought Naples into the unified Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy. At the western edge, San Francesco di Paola presents a portico carried by six columns and two Ionic pillars, with a circular interior and a dome rising 53 metres.
Its semicircular colonnades stretch outward to shape the piazza’s monumental enclosure. The church replaced a Napoleonic project planned by Murat as a tribute to the emperor; after Napoleon’s fall, Ferdinand I continued the work but transformed it into a church dedicated to Saint Francis of Paola. The square later endured an astonishing change: in 1963, it became a public car park.
For the G7 summit in 1994, the paving was renewed and the entire piazza was pedestrianized. Today, the open space also hosts concerts by artists ranging from Pino Daniele to Bruce Springsteen.
