Palazzo Della Porta, Palace in Historical Centre, Italy

Palazzo Della Porta is a palace on Via Toledo in the Montecalvario district, built from 1546 on land sold by the monks of Monteoliveto to Francesco Della Porta and completed in 1569. Its portal keeps the marble coat of arms of the De Costanzo as keystone, and an exterior epigraph recalls Giambattista Della Porta. Some second-floor rooms have 19th-century frescoes and overdoor paintings.

In 1546 the Olivetan monks of Monteoliveto sold land they had held since 1527 to Francesco Della Porta, who began building the palace there; it was finished in 1569 and passed to his son Giambattista Della Porta, the philosopher and writer remembered by an epigraph on the exterior. The family held it until 1766, when Francesco Maria De Costanzo, a descendant of Giambattista's daughter Cinzia, left his estate to the chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro.

The palace's name comes from the Della Porta family, who owned it from 1546 to 1766; the philosopher Giambattista Della Porta, son of the builder Francesco, is remembered by an epigraph on the exterior. A marble coat of arms of the De Costanzo family still serves as the keystone of the portal, and a plaque placed by the city of Naples honours Senator Giuseppe Mirabelli, who lived here until his death in 1901.

Palazzo Della Porta stands on Via Toledo in the Montecalvario district, a straight pedestrian-heavy axis running from Piazza Trieste e Trento toward Piazza Dante. The entrance is on the street itself, so look for the portal with the marble De Costanzo coat of arms as keystone. The surrounding side lanes climb steeply toward the Quartieri Spagnoli.

The marble coat of arms of the De Costanzo family still sits on the portal, where it serves as the keystone of the arch. Francesco Maria De Costanzo, a descendant of Giambattista Della Porta's daughter Cinzia, inherited the palace in 1766 and left his estate to the chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro.