Naples's Marinella Fountain is drowning in syringes and garbage.

Naples – Where eighteenth-century water once flowed, today neglect and despair stagnate. The Marinella Fountain, a valuable work created in the 18th century by architect Francesco Sicuro, has slipped into the abyss of extreme decay.

From historical monument to "hub" of squalor: the Bourbon basins have become a receptacle for rags, organic waste, and used syringes, transforming one of the symbols of the coastal area into an open-air laundry.

The complaint, documented by a series of photographic reports sent by citizens, comes from Green-Left Alliance MP Francesco Emilio Borrelli, who points the finger at the abandonment of an area – that of Vado del Carmine – now perceived as a "free zone."

"Is this the calling card we want to present to our history?" Borrelli attacks. "We are faced with a continuing disfigurement. A fountain that has stood the test of time, having survived displacements and mutilations, is now being humiliated. Seeing that Bourbon marble surrounded by garbage and syringes isn't just a shock to the eye, it's an insult to the dignity of Naples."

A drama between history and marginality
The situation in the Via Marina area is complex. The proximity to soup kitchens attracts dozens of vulnerable people every day who, lacking alternatives, end up camping among the relics of Aragonese and Bourbon history. The result is an impossible coexistence between monumental beauty and open-air drug use.

According to Borrelli, simple routine cleaning is no longer sufficient, often undone within days of the recurrence of decay. The request to the authorities is twofold: first, decisive intervention by social services to assist the homeless and addicts living among the garbage; second, definitive safety measures for the Torri del Carmine construction site.

"We cannot stand by and watch as beauty is suffocated by neglect," the MP concludes. "We demand that the restoration of the fountain and the Towers not be a never-ending, ghostly construction site, but a concrete commitment to restoring dignity to this part of the city. Constant oversight of the area is needed: history cannot be trampled upon like this."