Maria Cristina of Naples and Sicily (Maria Cristina Amelia Teresa; 17 January 1779 – 11 March 1849) was a Princess of Naples and SicilyLater known as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and later Queen of Sardinia as wife of King Charles Felix.

Princess of Naples and Sicily

She was a daughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Carolina of Austria, a daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. She was her mother's favourite child. Her twin sister Maria Cristina Amelia, died of smallpox on 26 February 1783.

Duchess of Genoa

She was married on 6 April 1807 in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

with Prince Charles Felix of Savoy, who became king when his elder brother Victor Emmanuel I abdicated in 1821. Until her husband became king, she was styled as the ''Duchess of Genoa''.

Queen of Sardinia

The royal couple were interested in the arts and artists, and turned the Royal House in

Agliè Agliè (Piedmontese: ''Ajé'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about north of Turin. Agliè borders the following municipalities: San Martino Canavese, Torre Canavese, Ba ...

and the

Villa Rufinella Villa Rufinella, also called Villa Tuscolana, is a villa in Frascati, Italy. Villa Rufinella is situated highest of the villas on the hill above the town of Frascati. It was built by Alessandro Ruffini, bishop of Melfi, in 1578, but during its ...

in Frascati into comfortable residences. During her husband's reign, they lived at the Palazzo Chiablese, where her husband died in 1831. In 1825, the Queen engaged the archaeologist Marquess Luigi Biondi (1776–1839), whose excavation work uncovered Tusculum. In 1839 and 1840, the architect and archaeologist Luigi Canina (1795–1856) was engaged by the royal family and excavated the Theatre area of Tusculum. The ancient works of art excavated were sent to the Duke of Savoy's Castle of

in Piedmont. Charles Felix died in 1831 after a reign of ten years. Maria Cristina lived the rest of her life in Turin, Naples, Agliè and Frascati, and died in Savona, Liguria. She was buried beside her husband in the

Hautecombe Abbey Hautecombe Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Hautecombe, ; la, Altaecumbaeum) is a former Cistercian monastery, later a Benedictine monastery, in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille in Savoie, France. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the H ...

Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is situated near the northwestern shore of Lac du Bourget. Heritage sites It is home to a prehistoric pile-dwelling (o ...

. The couple had no children.

Ancestry

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Christina Of Naples And Sicily 1779 births 1849 deaths People from Caserta Sardinian queens consort Princesses of Savoy House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Neapolitan princesses Sicilian princesses Italian twins 18th-century Italian people 19th-century Italian people Italian Roman Catholics Burials at Hautecombe Abbey Daughters of kings