- Nardo Rapicano, miniature of the "Del Maiestate" by Iuniano Maio
The building of the Maschio Angioino began in 1279 during the reign of Charles I of Anjou, on plans by the French architect Pierre de Chaule.
For its strategic position the castle assumed the function not only of a royal residence, but also of a fortress.
From the very beginning it was called "Castrum Novum" to distinguish it from the older Castel dell'Ovo and Castel Capuano. During the reign of Robert of Anjou, the castle became a centre of culture giving hospitality to artists, physicians and men of letters such as Giotto, Petrarch and Boccaccio.
The Aragonese succeeded to the Angevins with Alfonso I, who like his predecessors chose the Castel Nuovo as his royal residence and began the work of reconstruction, building the magnificent Arch of Triumph, between the Halfway Tower and the Watch Tower, to celebrate his triumphant entry into the city of Naples.
In the Aragonese period the medieval castle-palace became the fortress that we see now, suited to the new needs of wartime, and the area surrounding the castle lost the residential character it had under the Angevins. The structure of the Aragonese castle is certainly more massive than the Angevin one and was quite similar to the present castle, which is partly the result of the redevelopment carried out in the early years of the 20th century.
The monument has a trapezoidal plan formed of a tuff curtain with five cylindrical towers (four in piperno and one in tuff) resting on a base with openings for the patrols. The courtyard, which covers the same area as the Angevin one, has Catalan elements such as the low portico arcades and the piperno perron, the work of the Majorcan architect Guillén Sagrera, which leads up to the Barons Hall and lends this corner of the courtyard the characteristic appearance of Spanish patios.
At the end of the 15th century, the French succeeded to the Aragonese, though they did not stay long and were succeeded in their turn by the Spanish viceroy and the Austrians. During the viceroy period (1503-1734), the defence structures of the castle were used purely for military purposes.
With the advent of Charles III of Bourbon, who defeated the emperor Charles VI in 1734, the castle was surrounded by various kinds of buildings, warehouses and residences. During the first twenty years of the 20th century, the Commune began the work of isolating the castle from the nearby buildings, a clear sign of recognition of the historical and monumental value of the fortress and the need to reclaim the square in front of it.
At present the castle is used for cultural events and also contains the Civic Museum. Our tour of the museum takes to the Armoury Hall, the Palatine (or Santa Barbara) Chapel, the first and second floor of the southern courtyard, the Charles v Hall and the Sala della Loggia, where exhibitions and cultural events take place.