Piazza Dante

Dante Square is one of the most important squares of Naples, located at the beginning of Via Toledo and accessed by Port'Alba, on the north side. Note in the '500 as "Largo del Mercatello", precisely because of its market, takes its present appearance in the second half of the eighteenth century by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli, responsible for building up a commemorative monument to Charles III of Bourbon: a large hemicycle that surrounded the Aragonese walls to incorporate Port'Alba at west, and alongside the church of St. Michele at east. The "Forum Carolino" consists of two curved wings topped with 26 statues representing the virtues of Charles. In the nineteenth century, the Square still housed the main store of food in the city (grain and oil), as well as public offices, the popular bars and the National Boarding School "Vittorio Emanuele II". The large central statue of Dante Alighieri, which the square is named, dates back to 1871 and is the work of Tito Angelini and Tommaso Solari junior. The square has been refurbished and pedestrianized during the work for the subway, completed in 2002. On the Square there are four monumental churches, with their former convents, Palazzo Ruffo di Bagnara and Palazzo Rinuccini.