Naples Royal Palace

(Local Name: Palazzo Reale) Along the east side of the Piazza del Plesbiscito is the Palazzo Reale, the former Royal Palace, begun in 1600 by Dominico Fontana and restored in 1837-41. On the facade (169m/185yd) are eight marble statues of the various kings who ruled Naples. The palace contains a grand staircase of white marble (1651), a theater, seventeen richly appointed state apartments and the valuable Biblioteca Nazionale (1,500,000 volumes, 12,000 manuscripts, 5,000 incunabula).