Royal Palace of Naples, an interactive virtual elevator transports you through four centuries of life in the palace

Starting today, the Royal Palace of Naples is offering visitors The King’s Elevator, an interactive video installation that takes visitors through four centuries of the history of the palace and life at court. Placed in the former passetto del Generale, behind the Throne Room, the installation allows visitors to select through an interactive virtual elevator a floor for each century, from the 17th century to the present day, accompanying viewers in a visual narrative.

The project, created by Kaos Produzioni under the artistic direction of Stefano Gargiulo, was created to fill the temporary absence of the royal throne, which was sent to the La Venaria Restoration and Conservation Center in Turin for Intesa Sanpaolo’s “Restituzioni” project. The precious seat, after restoration, will be displayed in an exhibition in Rome and will return to the hall of the Neapolitan palace in February 2026. The proposal, put forward by palace restorer Francesca di Martino, created a virtual journey capable of evoking the everyday life of the rulers of the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies, without forgetting the Neapolitan people, a constant presence in the city’s history.

Through images, the installation allows visitors to retrace the salient moments in the history of the Palace. It starts from the seventeenth century, the time of its construction, ordered by the VI Count of Lemos, and the rule of the Spanish viceroys, with atmospheres marked by the plague and the eruptions of Vesuvius. It continues with the 18th century, when Charles of Bourbon transformed the Palace into a symbol of the new Bourbon Kingdom, enriching it with exotic influences from trade with the East. Thenineteenth century is represented by post-Napoleonic events, such as the devastating fire of 1837, and a ball in the halls enshrines the end of the Bourbon Kingdom and the advent of the Savoy. Finally, the top floor transports visitors to the palace’s Belvedere, where stunning panoramic views and the sounds of the city bring visitors back to the present day. A scene that can also be experienced live with the guided tours that, thanks to the restoration carried out in recent years, allow access to the highest part of the Palace, which has never been open to the public before this year and whose attendance, until the end of the monarchy, was reserved solely for the king and his family.

Between one floor and the next, fragments of the life of the Neapolitan people, silent protagonists of the Kingdom but never admitted to the court, are glimpsed, evoked through paintings, vases and tapestries kept in the Royal Palace.

“The opening of this small space that encloses a great spectacle,” explains Paola Ricciardi, director of the Royal Palace delegated by the Director General of Museums, Prof. Massimo Osanna, “gives visitors an additional suggestion that allows them to project themselves into the past and into the lives of the sovereigns and the court through the history of the Palace whose visit only allows them to pass through the Label Apartment, because it is not possible to enter the private rooms, now occupied by the Library, and imagine the daily life of the time.”

The installation is included in the ticket to Etichetta’s Apartment, which can be visited daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., except on Wednesdays. During the holiday season, on Dec. 27, 28 and 29, it will be possible to book guided tours of the Belvedere at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. These tours are usually available only on the fourth Saturday of the month and also include a walk through the attics of the Palace.

Royal Palace of Naples, an interactive virtual elevator transports you through four centuries of life in the palace

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