Enrico Caruso Naples in the via Santi Giovanni e Paolo n° 7 on 25 February 1873, he was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte d'Alife in the Province of Benevento (now called Piedimonte Matese), in the Province of Caserta in Campania, Southern Italy. Called Errico in accordance with the Neapolitan language, he would later adopt the formal Italian version of his given name, Enrico ("Henry" in English). This change came at the suggestion of his singing teacher Guglielmo Vergine. Caruso was the third of seven children and one of
Belmond Hotel Caruso deserted until the mid-1500s, when a period of reconstruction began. Today much of what remains of the "original" palace dates from works that took place between then and the 17th century, by which time much of its original ornament had been restored. In 1893, hotelier and vineyard owner Pantaleone Caruso and his wife Emilia Cicalese rented five rooms in one of the wings of the 11th-century palace and opened the "Pensione Belvedere". Its name was given for the views from its hanging gardens over the sea. Caruso covered the open air courtyard behind the entrance, and installed the two 13th