MUSEO DELL'ARCHIVIO STORICO DEL BANCO DI NAPOLI

330 rooms and 80 km of shelves full of documents, those are the figures for these bank archives, which are the largest in the world: they cover 500 years of history all the same! Between 1539 and 1644, the period of Spanish domination and the viceroys of Naples, eight banks were founded in the city. The one that sits in the present palace is Il Banco dei poveri, which grants microcredits to people imprisoned for debts in order to pay off their debts. The nearby Castel Capuano has housed the court since 1503. In 1808, Joachim Murat, at the head of the kingdom of Naples, had the eight banks brought together in a common bank. It was then Ferdinand I of Bourbon who had all the archives transferred to the Renaissance palace, where they have been kept ever since.

The journey through these rooms with their thickly shelved volumes that are hundreds of years old is very suggestive. It is best to opt for the guided tour as there are few explanations, despite the multimedia installations that are quite well done. You will discover the extremely rigorous methods of recording bank movements during the period of the viceroys of Naples, but above all what all these statements can teach us from a historical point of view. No need, therefore, to have any knowledge of accounting! For example, we learned of the existence of a fourth painting by Caravaggio painted in Naples, which has never been found until now.