Italy 1943–1945
Galleria Borbonica air-raid shelter, Naples
Museum / shelter
The story
Naples was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Italy: about 200 Allied raids between 1940 and 1944, with civilian deaths estimated at 20,000–25,000. This 19th-century royal tunnel and old cisterns became a shelter for thousands of people. Graffiti, beds and wrecked cars left here after the war make the civilian experience very real.
What to look for
Guided tour through the shelter rooms, wartime graffiti and the vehicles dumped here after 1945.
Plan your visit
Fri–Sun 10:00–17:30, guided tours only, booking required · €11–16 depending on route · entrance Vico del Grottone 4 · check before you go
Nearby sites
- Monument to the Four Days of Naples, Piazza della Repubblica · 2 km
- Naples War Cemetery, Miano · 6 km
- Royal Palace of Caserta (Reggia) · 27 km
- Caserta War Cemetery · 29 km
- Volturno crossing, Capua–Triflisco · 34 km
- Museo dello Sbarco e Salerno Capitale, Salerno · 52 km
All 96 sites in Italy 1943–1945 →
Into Europe: Italy 1943–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The places of the Allied campaign in Italy, from the Sicily landings of July 1943 through Salerno, the Winter Line, Ortona, Cassino and Anzio, Rome, the Gothic Line and the final battles on the Senio and the Po in April 1945.
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