Naples, interventions on cultural assets in the historic center start, more than 80 million euros

The UNESCO event “Naples Conference on Cultural Heritage in the 21st century” will be held from Nov. 27-29, 2023, at the Royal Palace in Naples, and in preparation for that gathering the City Council has presented details of 27 interventions on the city’s cultural and architectural heritage totaling 82.5 million euros.

Representatives from UNESCO’s 194 member states will arrive in Naples, whose historic center was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1995, from around the world to devise joint responses to preserve and enhance each country’s cultural heritage considered assets of interest to all humanity. The event is jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO, with the support of the City of Naples.Ministers Tajani and Sangiuliano will be in attendance along with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, and will address over the course of seven thematic sessions, the issues of urbanization, excessive tourism, climate change and conflict.

For the occasion, projects to be completed by (9 by 2024) for what has been dubbed the “Great Unesco Historic Center of Naples Project” were announced on Nov. 22 at a conference in the Church of Santa Maria della Colonna (here in a City Hall video is a roundup of the monuments covered by the project).

A review was made of the various interventions in the city after a long period of start-up and development of the Great Unesco Project, mainly related to the complexity of the operation that involves a variety of actors such as, in addition to the municipal administration, the Campania Region, the Superintendence, the Curia, and Asl. There are construction sites that have been blocked for years that should restart such as the one on Castel Capuano whose works were suspended in July 2019 and resumed in January this year, and the Girolamini Complex whose works were suspended at the end of October 2018 and resumed in January 2022. The target deadline, as for 7 other projects, is the end of 2024. More than 80 million euros are on the pot to do this, thanks to which Naples will be able to give itself a makeover by making its cultural heritage more accessible and usable, “viable,” as city councillor for urban planning Laura Lieto called it.

“The value of the historic center of Naples,” said Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, “also lies in its intangible heritage, which is made by its citizens. A social mix that makes the historic center a place for tourism but also for daily life. We want on the one hand to restore the historic center and on the other hand to keep it inhabited by its residents. We have to both govern commercial activities and make b&b and vacation homes sustainable. We don’t have a lot of regulatory tools, but for example on commercial openings we have used precisely the Unesco protection standard.”

“We did a technical work first of all to review all the projects very carefully,” explained Councillor Lieto, “especially in light of the deadlines in the program to protect the funding where it was possible. What we are proposing to the city is a viable Unesco plan from the point of view of its feasibility. A method of urban regeneration by involving other institutions, starting from the fact that the artistic heritage is the backbone of downtown Naples.”

Here is the list 10 completed interventions for a total amount of € 24 million

- Insula Duomo - Total cost € 2,916,478.45

- Complexes of Santa Maria della Colonna - Total Cost € 1,069,562.67

- Complex of Saints Severino and Sossio - Total Cost € 3,458,720.93

- Complex of Santa Maria Maggiore Cappella Pontaniana - Total Cost € 1,032,663.33

- Church of San Pietro a Majella - Total Cost € 1,945,784.77

- Church of San Pietro Martire - Total Cost € 1,453,405.27

- Church of Santa Croce and Purgatorio al Mercato - Total Cost € 387,895.96

- Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian - Total Cost € 802,632.54

- Pignatelli Chapel - Total Cost € 640,471.61

- Redevelopment of urban spaces - Lot 2 - Total Cost € 9,839,087.52

The 9 interventions to be completed by 2024 for a total of approximately € 34 million:

- Aragonese wall at Porta Capuana - Total Cost € 1,122,998.84

- Monumental complex of the Annunziata - Total Cost € 945,145.65

- Grouped little churches - Total Cost € 353,121.03

- Monumental Complex of Castel Capuano - Total Cost € 3,537,099.54

- Girolamini Monumental Complex - Total Cost € 5,783,745.26

- Neapolis ancient theater - Total Cost € 5,242,585.93

- Redevelopment of urban spaces - Lot 1 - Total Cost € 8,279,617.05

- Urban spaces redevelopment - Lot 3 - Total Cost € 6,504,733.18

- Sacred Scorziata Temple Total Cost € 2,500,000.00

There are eight projects for which additional sources of funding need to be identified, totaling € 18.7 million:

- Complex of Santa Maria della Pace - Total Cost € 7,000,000.00

- Complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore - Total Cost € 3,000,000.00

- Complex of San Gregorio Armeno and former Asilo Filangieri - Total Cost € 1,100,000.00

- Church of Santa Maria del Monte dei Poveri nel nome di Dio - Total Cost € 3,000,000.00

- Complex of Santa Maria La Nova - Total Cost € 1,100,000.00

- Archaeological Cathedral Insula - Total Cost € 1,500,000.00

- Complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore archaeological area - Total Cost € 1,000,000.00

- ZTL historic center Total Cost € 1,000,000.00

Photo: Danilo D’Agostino

Naples, interventions on cultural assets in the historic center start, more than 80 million euros

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