Mercato (Naples)

Church of the Carmine in Naples.

Mercato (Italian:"market") is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy. It is in the south-eastern part of the city, bounded by the industrial port of Naples on the south and adjacent to the site of one of the most historic churches in Naples, the church of the Carmine. At the center of the area is "Market square," the medieval market place of the city. The square was the site of the execution of Conradin; it was also where Massaniello's revolt broke out and also the site of the executions after the royalist retaking of the kingdom after the fall of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799. The area was somewhat cut off from the rest of the city, inland, by the urban renewal of the early 1900s. Also, it was severely damaged by bombings in WWII. It is currently (2006) in the midst of ambitious development.