Category Archives: Places

A Philosopher above the Lawmakers: Filangieri in the Italian Senate, from the Kingdom to the Republic

By Mario Riberi — Painted into the ceiling of the Italian Senate beside Papinian, Irnerius and Machiavelli, Gaetano Filangieri has looked down on Italian lawmakers since the Kingdom of Italy, and they have kept looking up, from the 1875 debate on the death penalty to the 2025 bill on legislative simplification. Discover how a Parliament that never applied his program to the letter keeps borrowing the language of the Science of Legislation to judge its own laws.

Cava de’ Tirreni: Filangieri’s Happy Retreat and a Setting for His Dialogue with Franklin

By Alfonso Maria Di Somma — In Cava de’ Tirreni, Gaetano Filangieri found happiness, developed his ideas on education, and continued his dialogue with Benjamin Franklin. Discover how this historic town became a retreat for an Enlightenment thinker whose pursuit of public happiness connected southern Italy with the emerging United States.

Palladio’s Architecture and the Enlightenment in the United States of America

By Patrizia Bernadette Berardi — From Palladio’s villas to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, architecture offers a window onto the shared cultural heritage of Italy and America. Explore how Palladian design found new meaning in the ideals of the American Enlightenment.

Gaetano Filangieri and the Castle at Vico Equense

By Amedeo Arena — At Castello Giusso in Vico Equense, Gaetano Filangieri spent his final months working on The Science of Legislation and received a copy of the U.S. Constitution from Benjamin Franklin. Discover the story of a coastal retreat that links Enlightenment Naples to America’s founding.

The U.S. Consulate in Naples and the Roots of Transatlantic Diplomacy

By Amedeo Arena — The opening of the U.S. Consulate in Naples in 1796 marked a new chapter in an older exchange of ideas. From Genovesi and Paoli to Filangieri and Franklin, explore the intellectual connections between Enlightenment Naples and the American founding.