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On the evening of 17 December 1819, Carlo Brioschi made the first astronomical observation from the new observatory of Naples on the hill of Miradois. This building, founded on 4 November 1812, represented an architectural innovation for Naples, being the first neoclassical building and for Italian astronomy, being the first building built to be an observatory. But the events on the establishment of the Neapolitan Specola, passing through the initiatives of the astronomers Giuseppe Cassella and Felice Sabatelli, date back to the reforming effort of the Naples University by Celestino Galiani, Chaplain Major of the Kingdom of Naples during the Habsburg vice-reign, and the reign of Charles of Bourbon.
The correspondence he intertwined with Manfredi, Marinoni, Gravesande, the Austrian court and the Neapolitan intellectuals testify to the relevant impulse given by Galiani for the renewal of the University of Naples, which led to the establishment of the chair of Astronomy, and for the creation of an Academy of Sciences and the Astronomical Observatory.
The communication intends to present some letters received from Galiani that highlight the strong commitment to creating solid scientific institutions in Naples, such as the English and French ones or those established in Bologna.
