Palazzo della Borsa, Renaissance Revival palace in Naples, Italy.
Palazzo della Borsa is a three-storey Neo-Renaissance palace on Piazza Giovanni Bovio in Naples' Porto district. Its facade has two orders of pilasters and is lightened by semi-columns; the main entrance is framed by two Ionic columns supporting a balcony, with two bronze sculptural groups by Luigi De Luca at the sides. The ground floor uses iron and glass to light the interior, and the top floor has small windows interspersed with caryatids around a large lunette frieze of Hermes and Dionysus.
Construction started in 1895, funded by a donation from General Enrico Cialdini, and the building opened in 1899 as Naples' stock exchange. It was planned from the outset as a center for securities and goods trading.
A large frieze on the facade shows Hermes and Dionysus together in a lunette, a direct visual reference to trade and prosperity. Passersby can still read the building's original commercial purpose just by looking at its decoration.
The palace faces Piazza Giovanni Bovio, where the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II stands; the Neptune Fountain that once fronted it is now in Piazza Municipio. The side entrance on the right leads to the early Christian church of Sant'Aspreno, built into the palace. The Chamber of Commerce and two banks occupy the building, so interior access may be limited.
The early Christian church of San Aspreno al Porto was not demolished when the palace was built but was instead incorporated into the structure. San Aspreno is considered one of the oldest Christian places of worship in Naples.
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