Deep below a royal plaza, hundreds of vintage cars and motorcycles line an underground passageway built in the 1800s.
There is something evocatively beautiful about an old, rusted car. In your mind’s eye, you can see the majesty they once were. And perhaps in some cases, with a few patches to cover where holes now gape, they could return to their original glory. For others, the dilapidation becomes part of the tableau, tall weeds defying usual patterns by growing up and through man-made machinery. In the center of Naples, Italy, that scene comes to life with abandoned 1940s vehicles and motorcycles lining a tunnel more than 30 yards below your feet.
Piazza del Plebiscito was named after a vote in October of 1860 that decreed the annexation of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which ruled all of southern Italy. The country was then united to become the Kingdom of Italy, and the royal palace was built on one side of the plaza. On the other, the church of San Francesco di Paola stands regally, watching over tourists walking or cycling through.
Under this plaza lies the Bourbon Tunnel, which was commissioned in the mid-1800s by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon; interestingly, the famous Bourbon Street in New Orleans was named for the Bourbon family. The king, who ruled Sicily and Naples, needed a secret passageway for the royal family to travel from the Royal Palace to the military barracks for protection. This is no Shawshank Redemption dirt tunnel, either; the volcanic rock-lined tunnel snakes through the existing Carmignano aqueduct system the city built in the early 1600s and was built to last.
www.thedrive.com
There is something evocatively beautiful about an old, rusted car. In your mind’s eye, you can see the majesty they once were. And perhaps in some cases, with a few patches to cover where holes now gape, they could return to their original glory. For others, the dilapidation becomes part of the tableau, tall weeds defying usual patterns by growing up and through man-made machinery. In the center of Naples, Italy, that scene comes to life with abandoned 1940s vehicles and motorcycles lining a tunnel more than 30 yards below your feet.
Piazza del Plebiscito was named after a vote in October of 1860 that decreed the annexation of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which ruled all of southern Italy. The country was then united to become the Kingdom of Italy, and the royal palace was built on one side of the plaza. On the other, the church of San Francesco di Paola stands regally, watching over tourists walking or cycling through.
Under this plaza lies the Bourbon Tunnel, which was commissioned in the mid-1800s by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon; interestingly, the famous Bourbon Street in New Orleans was named for the Bourbon family. The king, who ruled Sicily and Naples, needed a secret passageway for the royal family to travel from the Royal Palace to the military barracks for protection. This is no Shawshank Redemption dirt tunnel, either; the volcanic rock-lined tunnel snakes through the existing Carmignano aqueduct system the city built in the early 1600s and was built to last.
There's a 160-Year-Old Tunnel Full of Rusting WWII Cars Under the Streets of Naples
Deep below a royal plaza, hundreds of vintage cars and motorcycles line an underground passageway built in the 1800s.
www.thedrive.com
