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The Albergo dei Poveri— update on the Royal Poorhouse or How the White Elephant Lost its Colour  In Buddhist lore, a
white elephant is
said to have revealed to the
mother of the Buddha that she was going to give birth to the
Enlightened One. Thus, in many parts of Asia, the albino elephant is
sacred. It does not lead the weary life of toil of your average working
class pachyderm. On the contrary, the sacred animal must be sheltered,
tended, worshipped and, of course, fed. The ancient kings of Siam are
said to have ruined enemies —or maybe just taught upstarts a severe
lesson—by presenting the gift of just such sacred creatures, gifts
that had to be pampered and fed for the next 60 or 70 years. A few Holy
Jumbos could eat you out of house and home. In English, then, the
term "white elephant" has come to be a metaphor for something that is
big, useless and ruinously expensive to maintain.Painting of the Albergo from the 19th century  In
Naples, the Whitest Elephant of All is the Albergo dei Poveri, the Royal
Poorhouse, the mammoth structure on via Foria, begun in the mid-1700s
to care for and educate the indigent of the Kingdom of Naples. Although
used partially over the years, the structure was never finished. (There
is a separate entry on the history of the Albergo dei Poveri that you
may read by clicking here.) Major
restoration of the Albergo is
now underway. The entire façade is being restored and plans have
been drawn up for turning the building into something that will finally
serve the social needs of the modern city of Naples.I have often wondered what they could do with it. There are no poorhouses anymore, so that's out. It might serve the ravenous appetite for real estate of the Federico II University of Naples or the Orientale University. Both of those institutions, however, seem to be dedicated either to taking over smaller buildings elsewhere in the city or to building entirely new facilities outside the main part of the city. A hospital? I don't know. In any event, the health care people are directing their energies elsewhere. The focus for new hospitals or expansion of existing ones is likely to be in the upper Vomero section of the city, already known as the "hospital zone". For many decades, the Albergo has been one very large symbol of what is wrong with that entire part of the city—urban decay barely ameliorated by the great renovations of the Risanamento (urban renewal) before WW1, decay accelerated by WW2 and the earthquake of 1980. The plan now calls for the creation of a "Youth City"; the three large sections of the building will be dedicated, respectively, to Art, Education, and Innovation. (The first two are almost self-explanatory; I'm not sure what the last one means. I hope it's not video games.) The plans also call for restoring much of the original superstructure of the building, such as the pilasters and columns, as well as the original colours of pink and white, thus getting rid of the drab yellow that the building has been saddled with since the late 1800s. Restoration now in progess (Photo: August 2005)  The restoration of the
façade is
well underway. One
façade—even a very large one—doth not a restoration make,
however; the building is not only 300 meters long; it is a city block
wide with internal courtyards and a long back wall. It is an ambitious
undertaking, essentially rebuilding what was originally meant to be a
magnificent view as visitors to the city would come down from the
Capodimonte hill and pass by this sparkling example of Bourbon largesse
and social concern. When the French then ruled Naples for nine years
(1806-1815), they built a broad road (present-day name, via Don Bosco)
down the hill into the city, planning a Triumphal Arch approximately
where Piazza Carlo III is today. Visitors were to pass beneath
the arch and have the splendid Albergo
dei Poveri on their right. The French left, of course, and
the arch was never built. Even without it, a rejuvenated Albergo dei Poveri will still be a
cornerstone of sorts—possibly the beginning of a further rejuvenation
of that entire section of the city. |