Origin of the University of Naples "Parthenope" dates back to 1919, when - at the request of Vice Admiral Leonardi Cattolica, which has to be considered the founder of the University - the Royal Institute of encouragement is the organizer of Naples, with the Government , institution, and in Naples, a higher center of culture in which the sea was "designed as it is, as it produces and as a medium of exchange" and that, alongside the development of scientific culture, to prepare the minds " conscious exploitation of the economic problems related to the sea. " It was therefore a clear need not only cultural but also social, felt both by local authorities, as the reality impenditoriale then, leading to the birth - decided by RD No 1157, 30 May 1920 - the Royal National Institute Naval divided into two sections: Teaching, training of teachers in nautical disciplines, armament, training of managers of shipowners, marine insurance, etc. It is important to note that, since its first academic year, the 1920/21, the university has never stopped the profound link with the economic, social and cultural territory, but - indeed - has systematically adjust to the changes as intervened in order to offer training routes maximally responsive gradually emerging.
In 1930 the Istituto Superiore Navale obtain recognition of their character education: the RD No 1176 of that year, and the subsequent R.D. No 1227 of 1931, extends, in fact, the university regulations Institute; is of the same period, the formation of the first statute, promulgated by the RD No 1570 1933.
In the period between 1939 and 1940 the Institute changed its name, taking the name that will accompany him for sixty years: it thus becomes Istituto Universitario Navale - the "Navy", in the everyday language of teachers, students and staff. A name that in Italian and international training environment, will be a constant reference to the sea and maritime culture than in the most different.
While maintaining such a long period its traditional structure, which sees the two side by side Faculty of Maritime Economics and Nautical Science, Naval University Institute - as already mentioned - is developing a fruitful interrelationship synergistic with its "catchment area" and this thanks to the continuous adjustment and expansion of its educational provision.
Particularly relevant in this regard, is the process of development occurred in the second half of the eighties, which - while not neglecting the specificity of the vocation "marittimistica" dell'IUN - Carries a significant broadening of cultural horizons and training, combined with strong growth in size of the Institute.
The Faculty of Maritime Economics, for example, is transformed in 1987 into the Faculty of Economics of Transport and International Trade, and in 1990, Faculty of Economics, with four degree courses vary considerably among them, three schools directly for special two schools of specialization.
The Faculty of Nautical Science, which will retain its old name until 2003, extending its field of growing scientific interest in issues of social importance, such as that environment, as well as to deepen the study of all these scientific and technological fields, although it relates to navigation, are independent fields of research.
The development process is still ongoing, has found the most significant moment for the history of the University over the past decade is in the nineties, in fact, that we are witnessing the most significant growth - and perhaps unthinkable only a decade earlier - in training opportunities in housing policy and in the number of students - factors, they clearly linked.
The steady growth in student numbers, which features throughout the past decade, the University poses the need to identify and acquire new space for teaching, research and administration, thus encouraging a policy of developing real estate, short term sees alongside the historic location of the property in Acton Street Via Medina, the Church of St. Giorgio dei Genovesi - on loan from the Curia of Naples - the whole estate of Villa Doria Angri purchased through co-financing of the European Union and now being restored, is also being built, an important unit in the Center of Naples, as they are ongoing with the financial administration of the State for the acquisition in perpetual use of the property already monumental Institute Filangieri.
No exception as the policy of the University, as well as to release resources through the elimination of expenses related to rental costs, and to acquire living space for an institution on the rise, was also intentionally time the recovery of monumental buildings, often in state of decay, high importance in the history of the town, intended as a contribution to the improvement of living conditions and development of cities, and this, again, in the name of those principles of interchange with the territory since birth have characterized the 'University of Naples "Parthenope".
Even more important, however, in the "biography" of the University, as already mentioned, is in the same period, the growth of the educational offer for the first time since the founding, in fact, the two historical Faculty of Economics and Sciences Water, from the Academic Year 1999/2000, is joined by three newly established Faculty: Law, Engineering and Sports Science, the latter arising from the processing dell'ISEF Naples.
The importance of the institution of new faculty is twofold: the significant contribution that the rebalancing of the educational system in the regional university, awarded by a growth in student numbers from about 1,000 in 1985 to the current 15000, and sees the Faculty of Economy first in Italy for number of freshmen, is also the time when the University, thanks to the number of active faculties, actually recognized in all respects their status as Universitas Studiorum, thus ceasing to be a "University College" to become "University".
And that is why, in the redefinition of the Statute, has changed the name of the University, a name change, as the previous one, does not want to be a break in continuity of tradition of the University, but a power d 'note of the new perspective in which it operates and will operate for the foreseeable future on the basis of what, in eighty years of history, has arisen as the most intimate and profound character of the University, its most authentic traditional element: the ability interact with the social context and to capture continuously evolving its instances.
The historical site: the Workshops of the Real Casting
The headquarters of the University is its location in the building state property, located behind the bulwark of the Castel Nuovo, built in the sixteenth century to house the workshops of the Royal Foundry. This building, until the eighteenth century, along with the Mount Royal Arms, Body Guards and the Royal Arsenal Artillery, formed the core of the defensive structures and fortification of the Castel Nuovo, whose wall was the only guarantor of defend the city. The necessity of having to face the increasing power of artillery necessitated the construction of a new curtain which enclose the larger buildings for the accommodation of the troops, ammunition depots and construction of weapons.
The structure remained unchanged until the approval in January 1885, the Act to restructure the city of Naples that began a long project of radical transformation of the urban fabric, whose works included the construction of sanitation-large areas including the port . In particular, in order to completely isolate the fortress, the Castel Nuovo, considered a national monument itself and the Aragonese Arch of entry, it was decided to move the military establishments in the most suitable sites by the construction of a smelter and a new arsenal of Artillery in the Rione Arenaccia. The building is state property made it available to a different destination and, in 1949, was granted in use at our University.
