Naples, after 25 years Pizzofalcone elevator will be ready (two years of work was planned)

It is almost tender in its candid naiveté. Yet it’s all true, and reading it disorients: the Facebook profile of theNaples State Archives published a post where it rejoices in a major new development that will be there for 2024 after a 25-year wait: “This year will be full of news for our Archives, want to know the first one? The inauguration of the elevator that will connect Santa Lucia and Chiatamone with the Pizzofalcone hill and our subsidiary headquarters, after 25 years of work,” they enthusiastically write on the social profile of the ancient Archive already active at the time of the Bourbon kingdoms. “Thanks to the close synergy with the City of Naples and the Councillor for Infrastructure Edoardo Cosenza,” the post continues, “we have defined the last details to make this project a tangible reality. In addition to facilitating connections, the elevator will allow greater accessibility for scholars or simple enthusiasts eager to visit the venue, to enjoy the extraordinary panoramic view of our beloved city from the spot where the TV drama ’The Bastards of Pizzofalcone’ was filmed. March 31 is near!” All this is accompanied by a photo showing the view from above of the steep slope of Mount Echia and the mammoth scaffolding covering the construction site for the elevation and a series of ironic comments on the length of the project, in perfect Neapolitan spirit.

The peak to be reached by the elevator climbs steeply for 55 meters overlooking the sea of the Gulf of Naples with attached splendid panoramic views, and the construction project on paper was supposed to have a timeline of two years, which then stretched out between variants during construction, geological problems and changes in regulations on these facilities that resulted in the redoing of the project, anti-mafia interdictions on the contracting firms, work on neighboring streets, and not least the Covid pandemic. In the end, more than 4 million euros will have been spent.

Now the last 400,000 euros have been allocated by the City of Naples to complete the work in time for next Easter. The elevator will in fact have a tourist vocation, which will also determine its price (but subscribers to the Neapolitan local transport company will be able to use it for free). “You will see a beautiful panorama, and from there you will also be able to see the State Archives, home of the fiction ’The Bastards of Pizzofalcone. ’ Coming down from Monte di Dio, you will then get to line 6,” recalls Municipal Councillor for Infrastructure Edoardo Cosenza pointing to the appeal of the Rai series based on a series of novels by Maurizio De Giovanni that has made this area of Naples discoverable to a large audience, attracting interest and tourism.

And to think that here, not far from the elevator stands Villa Ebe, what is also called as Pizzofalcone Castle, designed and built by a visionary architect like Lamont Young in 1922, but which today is in a state of abandonment. And it is also here that remains attributed to the earliest settlements of ancient Partenope have been found. But you know, a Rai fiction can do more than many books on history and ancient art.

Naples, after 25 years Pizzofalcone elevator will be ready (two years of work was planned)

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