Porta Capuana
Renaissance triumphal arch of white marble flanked by twin towers, in a square that never fully sleeps.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Porta Capuana in Naples opens in its market square, nicknamed the teatro universale for centuries of nonstop trading, and draws on travelers from a nineteenth-century chronicler to Simone de Beauvoir describing its stalls, puppet shows and charlatans. It traces the white marble arch built in 1484 for King Ferrante of Aragon by architect Giuliano da Maiano, flanked by twin towers nicknamed Honor and Virtue. You'll also hear about the hot-tempered painter Mattia Preti, who forced his way through the gate during a plague quarantine and wounded a guard, and the unusual deal the city struck with him instead of an execution.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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