Funiculì, Funiculà: The Mountain Cable Railway of Naples, Italy

Montesanto Funicular in Naples. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia. 

Probably the most memorable Italian folk tune you have ever heard is a Neapolitan classic called Funiculì Funiculà. Does the title  sound familiar?  If not, click this link. I guarantee you have heard it before. This famous folk song was written by journalist, Peppino Turco and set to music by Italian composer Luigi Denza in 1880. It commemorated the inception of the first funicular railway that lead up Mount Vesuvius. 

Funicular cable cars are a type of rail train that is designed to ferry passengers up steep inclines and hills.  A cable is attached to each vehicle and the car is pulled up the hill on a set of tracks. There are cars that counter each other as they ascend and descend the hill. Though this is an old fashioned form of locomotion, it is still found in many mountainous tourist destinations in the world and in Italy. 

The funicular railway in Naples is one of the most used  in the world. It carries roughly ten million passengers each and every year. It is also one of the older parts of the Metropolitana di Napoli, or the Naples Metro. There are four cable railways in the city; the Chaia Funicular, the Montasano Funicular, the Central Funicular, and the Mergellina.  

Central Funicular connects four stations: Piazza Fuga, Petraio-Via Palizzi, Corso Vittorio Emanuele (Napoli), and Augusteo at Piazzetta Duca d'Aosta. The central system is most commonly used to get around the city’s center out to the steep inclines  and descents of Vanvitelli , Toledo, and Piazza Fuga. The mountainous region proved difficult to navigate until the train’s inception in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. 

The Chiaia funicular is one of the oldest systems in the world. It connects to the central line and runs up the incline of the Vermero hill. As the Northwestern section of Naples grew, the need for a sturdy transport became apparent. The Chiaia line connects to the underground line and carries about half a million passengers per year. 

The third line is known as the Montesanto Funicular which was built after the Chiaia Funicular. It ferries over four million passengers per year.  It opened in 1891 and connected to the Cumana Railway in Naples.  It descends at 168 meters at a gradient of twenty-three degrees. 

Lastly, the Mergellina Funicular is the most recent line. It connects five stations, but it does not connect with any other systems. It is located on its own. All other systems are connected to the Vanvitelli. It first opened in  the spring of 1931 and today is the least used line. It only carries over a quarter of a million passengers annually. 

The “Metropolitana di Napoli” remains a unique form of public transport. Naples was also once home to the famous funicular on Mount Vesuvius. It was the only train to scale a volcano and subsequently it was the only cable car to be destroyed by an active volcano. Nevertheless, Italy’s most famous operatic tune remains a tribute to a beautiful and historical innovation in the city of Naples.

"Funicular - History." Funicular - History. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.

by Victoria George, Courtney Brooks, and Andrew Oughton