Where Was Minerva Academy Filmed? The Real Location Behind the Netflix Military School

Netflix’s Minerva Academy places its teenage characters inside a military high school that feels almost removed from modern life. Salvo, Vincenzo, Camilla and the other cadets live among historic corridors, ceremonial courtyards and formal rooms while following rules that ban mobile phones, restrict civilian clothes and demand military-style discipline. Although Minerva itself is fictional, the impressive school seen throughout the eight-episode series is built around two very real historic locations near Naples, Italy.

The principal filming location is the Royal Palace of Portici, or Reggia di Portici, in the town of Portici just outside Naples. Production also used Villa Campolieto in nearby Ercolano, particularly to create the underground areas of the fictional academy. Together, the two 18th-century properties allow Minerva Academy to make one school feel much larger than any single real building.

Related: Minerva Academy Season 1 Ending Explained: What Happened to Francesco?

Royal Palace of Portici Becomes Minerva Academy

The Royal Palace of Portici provides the main visual identity of Minerva Academy. Netflix officially identifies the palace as the series’ primary filming location, and the cast and filmmakers even returned there during the 2026 Giffoni Film Festival for a guided tour through the spaces transformed into the fictional military high school. Its grand rooms, long corridors and formal architecture make the location convincing as an institution with decades of tradition behind it.

The palace stands in Portici, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, with the historic complex located at Via Universita, 100. It was commissioned by Charles of Bourbon in the 18th century as a royal residence, forming part of the Bourbon court’s development around Naples and the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. That genuine royal history explains why Minerva’s buildings have a sense of authority that would have been difficult to reproduce entirely on a studio set.

The building does not operate as a military school in real life. Since the 19th century, the Royal Palace has been associated with agricultural education, and it now houses the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II. The surrounding complex also includes historic gardens, museums and the Botanical Garden of Portici, making the real location an educational institution, just not the kind portrayed in the Netflix series.

Villa Campolieto Provides Minerva’s Underground Areas

A second major location can be found only a short distance away in Ercolano, the modern city built around ancient Herculaneum. Italy for Movies confirms that Villa Campolieto was used for the underground sections of Minerva Academy, allowing production to expand the fictional school beyond the Royal Palace of Portici. Those darker spaces contrast with the palace’s more ceremonial environments and become especially useful as the students encounter Minerva’s secretive traditions.

Villa Campolieto is located at Corso Resina 283 in Ercolano and belongs to the celebrated group of Vesuvian villas constructed along the historic Golden Mile. Prince Luzio De Sangro commissioned the villa in 1755, with Mario Gioffredo beginning the project before architect Luigi Vanvitelli took control of the work in the 1760s. Vanvitelli’s son Carlo later completed the property in 1775.

The villa was eventually acquired by the organization now known as the Fondazione Ente Ville Vesuviane and restored after decades of deterioration. Today it is open to the public and used for cultural activities and events rather than serving as part of an actual school. Its historic interiors and unusual architectural spaces nevertheless fit naturally alongside the Royal Palace of Portici when the two buildings are combined on screen.

Was Minerva Academy Really Filmed in Naples?

Yes. While the fictional school itself does not exist, production remained firmly rooted in the Naples area of Campania. Italy for Movies records filming in the province of Naples from March 10 to July 17, 2025, covering approximately 19 weeks and 108 filming days. The production was handled by Picomedia, with Ivan Silvestrini directing the eight-episode Netflix series.

Portici and Ercolano are both located southeast of central Naples and sit close to Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. Using authentic locations from this area also supports the show’s identity as a story set in a Naples military school rather than using another Italian region to stand in for Campania. The setting therefore has a stronger connection to the real geography around the characters than viewers might initially assume.

Is Minerva a Real Military School?

No. There is no real Minerva Military High School corresponding to the institution attended by Salvo, Camilla and Vincenzo in the series. Netflix describes the school as an imaginary military high school, with the Royal Palace of Portici and Villa Campolieto providing the physical spaces needed to create it.

The production benefits from choosing buildings that already have genuine institutional histories. The Royal Palace has housed agricultural education since the 1870s, while its monumental architecture naturally communicates the sense of tradition, hierarchy and ceremony central to the fictional Minerva. Instead of constructing an artificial campus from scratch, the filmmakers were able to place the cadets inside spaces that already carry centuries of history.

Can You Visit the Minerva Academy Filming Locations?

Both principal locations are real historic sites rather than closed television sets. The Royal Palace of Portici remains connected to the University of Naples Federico II and its museum and botanical collections, while Villa Campolieto is managed by the Fondazione Ente Ville Vesuviane and is used for visits and cultural events. Visitors should still check the individual sites’ current opening arrangements before planning a trip because access to particular rooms can vary.

For viewers of Minerva Academy, visiting Portici and Ercolano offers a rare chance to see much of the fictional school’s architecture in its original form. The imposing academy may exist only within the Netflix story, but the buildings behind it are genuine landmarks from Campania’s Bourbon and Vesuvian history. That combination of real architecture and fictional military tradition is a major reason Minerva feels like a school with a much longer history than the series itself.