Naples' Royal Palace looks like the sort of building that has always been in charge, and for the better part of three centuries it was. Building began in 1600 to house the Spanish viceroys governing the kingdom, and when Spanish rule ended in 1734 the palace simply changed tenants, becoming Bourbon headquarters until Italian unification in 1861, with a brief Napoleonic interlude under Joseph Bonaparte and Murat.

It fronts Piazza del Plebiscito, created in 1809 when Murat cleared the buildings that stood there and later named for the 1860 referendum in which Naples voted to join a unified Italy. Two royal figures on horseback, Charles III and Ferdinand I, still preside over the square.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace that transfer of power through the square, from viceregal palace to Bourbon court to referendum site, explaining Naples' shift from capital city to one region among many in modern Italy.