The Galleria Borbonica, or Bourbon Tunnel, is an ancient military underground passage that connects the Royal Palace to the military barracks in Naples. It was built to allow the king to flee to the sea and the soldiers to defend the palace quickly and remains a rather intriguing reminder of the past. Errico Alvino was commissioned by Ferdinand II in 1853 to construct this military passage due to his paranoia about the outbreak of a rebellion. His paranoia turned out to be well-founded as, two years after construction began, the fall of the Bourbon dynasty led to halt of all work on the tunnel.
A network of tunnels carved into the aqueducts of the city, it is 530m in length and remained unused and abandoned until WWII. During the hundreds of bombings in World War II, the people of Naples used the underground passages as shelters. There were also military hospitals established in the tunnel. Furthermore, confiscated vehicles such as cars and bicycles that were taken in this period were kept in the tunnels. A fascist monument made for Aurelio Padovani was also abandoned underground.
Then, again, the tunnels were forgotten until the 2000s, when the curious artefacts that were housed inside and the fascinating passages themselves began to garner attention from locals. In 2014, the tunnels were opened to the public and are now a tourist attraction. You can take several different tours of the tunnels including the Standard Tour, the Adventure Tour (80 minutes; adult/reduced €15/10) and adults-only Speleo Tour (2½ hours; €30).
Standard Tours take you around the displays of vintage cars, motorbikes and water tanks. The Adventure Tour, sees visitors enter a cistern still full of water and sail under the city on a raft. More extreme adventurers, meanwhile, might be more interested in the Speleo Tour, which sees participants don a hard hat and overalls and go crawling through aqueduct tunnels to reach the most beautiful water cisterns.
If you are exploring the city of Naples or have found a luxury villa in Campania, a visit to the Galleria Borbonica is a perfect alternative to more typical tourist attractions and promises to offer a rather unique experience!
A network of tunnels carved into the aqueducts of the city, it is 530m in length and remained unused and abandoned until WWII. During the hundreds of bombings in World War II, the people of Naples used the underground passages as shelters. There were also military hospitals established in the tunnel. Furthermore, confiscated vehicles such as cars and bicycles that were taken in this period were kept in the tunnels. A fascist monument made for Aurelio Padovani was also abandoned underground.
Then, again, the tunnels were forgotten until the 2000s, when the curious artefacts that were housed inside and the fascinating passages themselves began to garner attention from locals. In 2014, the tunnels were opened to the public and are now a tourist attraction. You can take several different tours of the tunnels including the Standard Tour, the Adventure Tour (80 minutes; adult/reduced €15/10) and adults-only Speleo Tour (2½ hours; €30).
Standard Tours take you around the displays of vintage cars, motorbikes and water tanks. The Adventure Tour, sees visitors enter a cistern still full of water and sail under the city on a raft. More extreme adventurers, meanwhile, might be more interested in the Speleo Tour, which sees participants don a hard hat and overalls and go crawling through aqueduct tunnels to reach the most beautiful water cisterns.
If you are exploring the city of Naples or have found a luxury villa in Campania, a visit to the Galleria Borbonica is a perfect alternative to more typical tourist attractions and promises to offer a rather unique experience!
Photo credits
picture 1: Nemo bis / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: Nemo bis / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 3: Armando Mancini / CC BY-SA 2.0
picture 1: Nemo bis / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 2: Nemo bis / CC BY-SA 3.0;
picture 3: Armando Mancini / CC BY-SA 2.0
