The cholera epidemic of 1884 marked a turning point in the history of Naples. No previous outburst of epidemic disease had ever led to a comprehensive attempt to reform the vulnerability of the population to infection. 1884 was different. In that year the sufferings of the city attracted the attention of the whole country. In the expression of King Umberto, the misfortune of Naples became a national misfortune. The state also correctly appreciated that the insalubrity of Italy's greatest city was a permanent danger to the entire nation. Cholera affected not only health but also public order, commerce and public finance. Furthermore, thanks to the epidemiological advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of cholera that culminated in the work of Pettenkofer and Koch, the disease seemed preventable. Indeed, the local government of Naples and the medical profession of the city claimed to have a plan that would make the City of the Sirens invulnerable to further attacks. After the end of the crisis, therefore, the government of Agostino Depretis attempted to make good the promises that the King and his ministers had made in September to take steps to prevent the recurrence of so great – and so unnecessary – a disaster. Humanitarian sentiment and prudent statesmanship combined to produce a major experiment in preventive medicine.

That experiment involved a major programme of rebuilding and renewal known as risanamento. As a result of the events of 1884, Naples joined the ranks of the many European cities that were embellished, enlarged and restructured during the course of the nineteenth century.