A public walk along the sea. It was in 1692 when the viceroy of that time, Luis Francisco de la Cerda Aragòn, Duke of Medinaceli, had the idea. The Riviera di Chiaia was chosen to make the innovation possible, where the beach was paved and in order to embellish the new road, fountains were installed and several trees were planted.
We can consider that intervention as the preparatory action for the foundation of the Royal Villa, which would come much later, in 1778, when king Ferdinand IV asked the architect Carlo Vanvitelli to create a large public garden for the Royal Walk.
The initial project was for the section between the actual Piazza Vittoria and Cassa Armonica, with two symmetrical edifices (now destroyed) at the entrance, to host concerts, parties and refreshments, artisan workshops and to act as guard posts, since the villa at that time was fenced. The famous architect’s creation included avenue of time and elm trees, adorned with groups of mythological statues, some of which are still there. In the the central avenue, a large fountain stood with stucco statues representing the siren Parthenope and the Sebeto stood out, the river that passed through the ancient Neapolis, the work of the great Giuseppe Sanmartino. Despite the famous “father”, however, the fountain did not last long. In 1791 it was already replaced by a masterpiece such as the Toro Farnese which remained there until 1825, when it was finally moved to the shelter at the Archaeological Museum. In its place, a porphyry basin was placed, coming from Paestum, supported by four lions designed by Pietro Bianchi, soon renamed as “Fontana delle paperelle” (Duck’s fountain), because ducks used to swim there.
Looking at the oldest and most famous green path in Paris, the Naples one took the name of “Real Passeggio della Tuglieria” (Royal Path, favourite meeting place for the nobles of the city, the only ones enjoying it, since the poor, the servants and those who did not dress well were not allowed to frequent it, except for the day of the Piedigotta festival.
The path was also appreciated by the Napoleonic kings. In 1807, King Joseph Bonaparte asked the architect Stefano Gasse to extend it. A large green area was then created with trees and precious plants, called the “Boschetto” (little forest) which was embellished by the fountain called Il ratto d’Europa in 1789, the work of the Neapolitan sculptor Angelo Viva. The expansion of the Villa Comunale continued up to the actual Piazza della Republicca in 1834, again by Gasse, The creation of a riding track and of the small temple of Virgil and Tasso dates Bach to that time.
The actual structure of the Villa is the result of the initial Vanvitelli’s project whcih took places in the 1870s, when Via Caracciolo was built, depriving the Villa from of direct sea views. The pavilion in Pompeian style dates back to that period. It it used by the “Salvator Rossa” Promoting Society of Fine Arts, a gathering place for artists, which was also the first nucleus of the Zoological station.
Finally, in 1878, the Cassa armonica was built in the centre of the Villa, in cast iron and glass, a fine example of Neapolitan Art Nouveau, a work by Enrico Alvino and part of a wider project of a new rearrangement of the Villa, which substantially corresponds to the current layout.
