The Bourbon Tunnel, Tunnel Borbonico or Bourbon Gallery (Italian: ) is an ancient underground passage, constructed for military purposes to connect the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

to military barracks in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The monarchy in the era of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon was fearful of the revolution-prone populace of Naples. Errico Alvino was commissioned to construct a military passage for troops connecting the

Royal Palace of Naples The Royal Palace of Naples ( it, Palazzo Reale di Napoli, italic=no, nap, Palazzo Riale ‘e Napule) is a palace, museum, and historical tourist destination located in central Naples, southern Italy. It was one of the four residences near Napl ...

to Via Morelli, boring underneath the hill of Pizzofalcone and reaching the quartiere San Ferdinando, but also connecting to other tunnels and aqueducts, including the old Carmignano aqueduct (1627–1629). The monarchy would also not have been ignorant that the

Viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, the Kings of France, Aragon and Spain and the Habsburg Archdukes of Austria ...

in 1647 had nearly been trapped in this urban Royal Palace, and only by luck was able to flee to a nearby convent to escape angry crowds during the Revolt of

Masaniello Masaniello (, ; an abbreviation of Tommaso Aniello; 29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647) was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place of birth Until recent ...

, thus the tunnel could also serve as an escape route for its royal inhabitants. Alvino envisioned a two-lane tunnel with two sidewalks on either side. The two outlets were to the west on Via della Pace (today's Via Morelli, also opened in 1853 by Alvino himself), just in front of the Caserma della Vittoria barracks, and to the east by today's Piazza Carolina, behind the basilica of San Francesco di Paola. The tunnel was to be called Galleria Reale, and both lanes were to take their royal appellations: the one leading to Chiaia was to be named Strada Regia while the one in the opposite direction Strada Regina.Francesco Saverio Cerulli, ''Rivista delle opere comunali in corso nelle quindici province del Regno delle Due Sicilie al di qua del faro'', Stabilimento tipografico dell'Albergo dei Poveri, Napoli, 1856 Two years after it was begun, the fall of the

Bourbon dynasty The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...

meant that construction came to a halt. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the tunnel was used as a shelter during bombardments. Presently the tunnels are open for tours, and share with Catacombs of Naples the urge to go underground, and with much of Neapolitan constructions, a kinship with decay and fruitless architecture in Naples. The tunnel contains decades of debris, including vintage cars and a discarded fascist monument that had been made for Aurelio Padovani.

References

External links

Official website
Archaeological sites in Naples Subterranea (geography) Archaeological sites in Campania {{italy-stub