Plebiscite Square and the horse game

About this activity

Before it even became a Square, when at the time it was just one of many irregular spaces in the city, Plebiscite Square was the heart of city life. Neapolitans gathered there for a wide variety of reasons: weddings, tournaments, competitions, and any other event was announced or celebrated in this space, which has therefore always been the true center of the city.

Piazza del Plebiscito is among the largest in Naples and among the main squares in Italy. A symbol of the city and a tourist destination par excellence, located in the city's historic center, it is surrounded by important buildings such as Palazzo Salerno, the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola, the Prefecture Palace and the Royal Palace.

Why visit Plebiscite Square

Walking through Piazza del Plebiscito, it is not difficult to see people who, with their eyes closed or covered, attempt to cross the square. Tourists and Neapolitans alike try their hand at this curious game of walking blindfolded across the 170 meters between the entrance of Royal Palace And the two equestrian statues.

Piazza del Plebiscito is the largest square in Naples and one of the symbols of the city. It stands immediately at the end of Via Toledo, the Neapolitan shopping street, a stone's throw from the famous Lungomare Caracciolo and Piazza Trieste e Trento. Its important area of 25000m² is developed in two opposing parts. A semicircular part is bordered by the long colonnade of the Basilica of St. Francis of Paola, while the opposite part, where the hemicycle closes, is rectangular to follow the shape of the important buildings that limit its area: the Royal Palace in the center and the twin palaces (Palazzo Salerno and Palazzo della Prefettura) on either side.

Practically in the center of the square, then, are two isolated equestrian statues. One of them depicts King Charles III of Bourbon holding the scepter while in the other he has the reins of his steed still panting after battle. Such majesty was stamped into the sculpture by the famous Antonio Canova according to the neoclassical fashion of his time. However, the statue was originally meant to depict Joseph Bonaparte. By the time the sculpture of his mount was ready, the king was succeeded first by Joachim Murat and then by Charles III of Bourbon and his son, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, who ultimately commissioned the final work from the sculptor in 1815 and ordered him to make a second one depicting him at his father's side.

However, the second statue, namely the one that was precisely meant to represent Ferdinand I himself, was not completed by Canova, who died in 1822. He managed to execute only the horse while the statue of the royal was commissioned from his pupil Antonio Calì.

The curious "game" between the equestrian statues and the legend from which they derive

Why is everyone playing a game of overcoming the two equestrian statues in Plebiscite Square by passing through the space between them? An attempt is made to repeat the test that is legendarily attributed to Queen Margaret and that no one has ever managed to overcome. La Queen Margaret granted his prisoners to take this test, and if they succeeded in the challenge, he would grant them freedom.

Surely it is humanly difficult to walk straight between two statues, blindfolded and in such a large and slightly inclined space and avoid loss of orientation. "Difficult but not impossible" -- so all that remains is to try!

The most important things to know about Plebiscite Square

As in the old days, the width of the square is also an important gathering center for citizens today: there are many events, demonstrations and concerts held in this beautiful square made completely pedestrianized.

Historical background and interesting facts about Plebiscite Square

In ancient times, the square we can walk through today was nothing more than an irregular widening located at the end of the ancient city Paleopolis that housed the defensive walls.

These were later destroyed in the 14th century to allow the construction of convents. The first among these was that of S.Croce in front of which the convent of the Holy Spirit was also built. Around it the houses that were erected went to form the Borgo Santo Spirito. In 1482 another convent was built at the behest of a monk who would later become St. Francis of Paola. The convent, initially dedicated to St. John, was called "dell'Orto dei Santi Luigi e Martinello." The Basilica, built in honor of the saint, was built only later in the 17th century.

During Spanish rule in the 1500s, however, a palace was built for the Spanish viceroy: Palazzo Vecchio (which was torn down in 1837). After a century the royal architect Domenico Fontana was entrusted with the work of building the Royal Palace, which was named "New" to contrast it precisely with the Old. In these years the simple widening, took the name Largo di Palazzo and many were the events that it hosted such as popular festivals, games between soldiers and the peculiar Cuccagna. The latter consisted of staging a place such as a castle or a hill with food and live animals. At the stroke of 10 p.m., enunciated with two cannon shots, the people who attended could launch themselves to grab as many things as they could carry away from the staging. In 1647 the square saw the Duke of Arcos escape from Masaniello's lazzari and take refuge in the Church of St. Louis. The same square again saw the massacre of May 15, 1848.

Peculiar are the eight statues of the kings of Italy (Roger the Norman, Frederick II, Charles of Anjou, Alfonso of Aragon, Charles V, Charles III, Joachim Murat, and Victor Emmanuel III) that face the square and were displayed there in 1888.