Castel Nuovo, also known by the name of Maschio Angioino, is one of the symbols of the city of Naples. Home of kings and queens, but also of conspiracies and executioners crocodiles, the fortress has remained indelibly inscribed in Neapolitan history.
The building was built in 1279 during the reign of Charles I of Anjou, who moved the capital of the kingdom of Sicily from Palermo to Naples. As with any fortress its main role was to guard the city from enemy raids. This explains its central and strategic position and, above all, close to the sea.
Castel Nuovo because it wanted to replace the now old and obsolete Castel dell’Ovo and Capuano. Later the people decided to informally call him Maschio Angioino, to underline the might of its towering towers and the incisiveness that the D’Angiò family had in the Neapolitan political and cultural fabric, especially for having gathered thinkers and artists of prim order of the Italian panorama.
A museum itinerary was inaugurated in 1990 that allows you to visit the interior of the Maschio Angioino. Through this path it is possible to appreciate the salient parts of the fortress. It begins with the fourteenth-century Palatine Chapel, which preserves the Angevin stylistic mold intact and was painted inside by Giotto. Then continue towards the Armory Room which is so called because it once had the function of an armory. Later, however, this area was used as a necropolis, in fact about fifty burials of both adults and young people of both sexes were found, with a modest funeral equipment. To complete the visit to the Maschio Angioino there are the prisons, around which legends and myths were born.
Currently, the monumental complex is intended for cultural use and is, among other things, the seat of the Civic Museum. The first and second floors of the southern curtain together with the Carlo V Hall and the Sala della Loggia host, in fact, exhibitions and artistic and cultural events.

HOW TO GET
The address is Piazza Municipio – Naples.
From the Piazza Garibaldi station, take the Metro Line 1 and get off at the Municipio stop.

INFO AND TIMES
Opening hours: from 9:00 to 19:00
Closed on Sundays.
The cost of the entrance ticket is
Full: € 6
Reduced: € 3