Galleria Umberto I

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Galleria Umberto I is a public shopping gallery in Naples, Italy, right opposite the San Carlo opera house. Built from 1887 to 1890, it was a key part of Naples’ large rebuilding effort known as risanamento. The building was designed in the Stile Umbertino by Emanuele Rocco, inspired by Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and is named after King Umberto I. It blends shops, cafés and social space with private apartments on the third floor. The gallery is tall and cross-shaped, topped by a glass dome held up by 16 metal ribs, with four iron-and-glass wings. One wing faces Via Toledo, and another opens onto the San Carlo Theatre. After years of decay, it has become again a lively center of Neapolitan life. The Galleria is part of the Historic Centre of Naples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also the setting of The Gallery (1947), a novel by John Horne Burns.