entry
May 2003 update Dec 2015 & Aug 2023
Villa Pignatelli
The most striking building along
the Riviera di Chiaia, the road bounding the north
side of the Villa Comunale on the sea front
between Mergellina and Piazza Vittoria, is
certainly the Museo Principe di Aragona Pignatelli
Cortes, known to Neapolitans simply as Villa
Pignatelli.
In 1826, Ferdinand Acton entrusted
to Pietro Valente the task of building a Greco-Roman
style residence that would then, in the English fashion
of the day, be the centerpiece of a park. The intention
of Valenti and the owner was to create a kind of
Pompeian villa with the central atrium moved to the
front of the building where Doric columns would then
provide the only opening onto the gardens. The
magnificence of these columns still strikes the eye of
the casual passer-by today from the avenue fifty yards
away.
The property has changed hands a
few times since the construction of the villa. It was
bought in 1841 by Karl Meyer von Rothschild of the
German family of financiers; then in 1867 it came into
the hands of the Duke of Monteleone, Diego Aragona
Pignatelli Cortes, whose widow then willed it to the
Italian state in 1952. The villa today has managed to
preserve and maintain intact the fine gardens in front
of the building. The grounds house a coach museum, a
collection of French and English vehicles from the
eighteenth and nineteenth century. It is also the site
of numerous art shows.
Update Aug 2023
The Villa Pignatelli is now open after various starts and restarts. The villa is essential an ongoing restoration, including sections that have been closed for a number of years. The results are impressive.
© 2002 - 2023