Palazzo Serra di Cassano

Palazzo Serra di Cassano is a building in Naples, Italy, built for the wealthy Serra Family, of Genoa.

Some members of the Albergo or House of Serra became Marquises, Princes and Dukes, others were less regal. One member, Antonio Serra, an economist and lawyer, advanced a path-breaking treatise in 1613 promoting government intervention into market based economies for the development of manufacturing enterprises. His work was later advanced by Joseph Schumpeter.

All members share the family insignia (crest), which is frescoed on the ceiling of the Palazzo Serra's Great Hall.

The family had historic economic interests in banking, insurance and the law. They were partners in the Pallavicini Bank which operated from the Italian peninsula to Britain (as Pallavicino) and the North Sea. They financed the English wool trade and the Genoan silk colonies in Calabria. They participated in the Bank of St. George in Genoa. Their members lived in Genoa, Naples, Nice, Nervi/Portofino (on grounds shared with the Grimaldi), Calabria and Sardinia. Through an intermarriage with the Grimaldi's of Monaco, they inherited an additional title as the Princes of Gerace.

As patrons of the arts, they supported the young Peter Paul Rubens on his first stay in Italy. During that stay in 1606, he painted his notable portrait of Maria DiAntonio Serra on her marriage to Duke Nicolo Pallavicini. Nicolo was the nephew of Sir Horatio Pallavicino, principal banker in London to Queen Elizabeth 1st. Today, this portrait may be seen at Kingston-Lacy, an English Country House, open to the public, in Dorset, England.

The Palazzo is behind Piazza del Plebiscito on via Monte di Dio, the road leading up to the height of the Pizzofalcone peak. The building is from the first half of the 18th century and represents the finest in the tradition of Neapolitan urban architecture. It was built by the architect, Ferdinando Sanfelice, also responsible for the construction of the nearby Nunziatella, the Bourbon Military Academy founded in the days of the Kingdom of Naples, and still in operation. Both the Duke of Cassano and the Palazzo Serra were known throughout Europe for their superb library. In the 19th Century that collection was sold to the Viscount Spencer. It is located today at Althorp, the country home and final resting place of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales and at The Rylands Library, Manchester University, England.

The building originally had entrances on two different streets; the entrance that formerly opened onto via Egiziaca, facing the Royal Palace, was closed many years ago in 1799. The owner, L. Serra, The Duke of Cassano, closed it to protest the execution (beheading) of his son, Gennaro Serra. Gennaro, the Prince of Cassano, was said to be involved in the revolutionary activities of the Neapolitan Republic.

The leaders of the Republican uprising were betrayed by the English Admiral Horatio Nelson. For ending hostilities, Nelson had promised the rebels safe passage to France; instead, being influenced by his intimate friendship with Lady Emma Hamilton, he turned them over to Bourbon authorities. English historians believe that this failure to honor his "word" as an English Officer has kept Nelson from being buried in Westminster Abbey.

The Duke of Cassano said that the doors of Palazzo Serra would remain closed until the ideals for which his son had died were realized and he (the Duke) had received apologies from the English and Spanish Kings. They are still closed; because of this, some members of the Albergo Serra quit the Italian peninsula for good and relocated to London and/or New York. In London, the Marquis Guido Serra founded the Windsor Film Studios in the early 20th Century and also curiously discovered that he had purchased an original Rembrandt van Rijn, for ten Pounds Sterling, in an antiques store, which he later sold for one hundred thousand Pounds. In New York, Giuseppe Serra amassed real estate, served on a bank board and became a leader of the Democratic Party.

The dual portals of the palace entrance, on the via Monte di Dio, open onto twin curved stairways leading up over an octagonal courtyard. The elegance of the decoration, chandeliers, inlaid marble, and paintings, remain a hallmark of the style of the Albergo Serra. This elegance and the palace's dignified architectural presence, make the Palazzo Serra a paragon among all regal Bourbon residences.

Today it houses the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies.