The ‘Risanamento’ in Naples: Transformations, Demolition, and the Survival of Medieval Architecture

Damiana Di Bonito

The project aims to examine the Neapolitan medieval architecture involved in the urban transformations of the so-called ‘Risanamento’ between 1885 and the second decade of the 20th century. During this phase, a capillary reorganisation of the low quarters of Naples – in particular Pendino, Porto, and Vicaria – took place, and numerous monumental buildings standing on the historical, reticulated cityscape experienced radical building interventions, with important consequences for their architecture and decorations – consequences that in some cases included loss, spoliation, and destruction. 
This investigation takes as its point of departure a series of essays by Giuseppe Ceci published under the title “Le chiese e le cappelle abbattute o da abbattersi nel Risanamento edilizio di Napoli” in several issues of the periodical Archivio storico per le provincie napoletane between 1891 and 1892. The scholar traces the historical fate of numerous church buildings – both medieval and modern, amounting to more than sixty in total – that were destroyed, demolished or had their furnishings rearranged, offering direct testimony of the events. The present study makes use of a careful re-examination of historical data and compares it with the historical topography and surviving material evidence in accordance with modern methods of investigation. From this perspective, cases requiring new analysis include the church of San Pietro a Fusariello, demolished at the turn of the century, and the church of Santa Maria a Piazza, whose medieval bell tower was demolished in 1924. The investigation will be conducted with the use of documentary sources from Neapolitan archives, combined with an examination of historical photography from the end of the 19th century, which extensively documents the urban change and development and thus proves to be a particularly effective resource for the purpose of tracing alterations to historical buildings and their decorations.