Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo

Lonely Planet review

The Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, on the northern side of the piazza, is one of the city's greatest examples of Renaissance architecture. Consecrated by the Jesuits in the 16th century, its diamond-shaped stone facade actually belongs to the 15th-century Palazzo Sanseverino, which was converted to create the church. Legend has it that the carved markings on the piperno (volcanic rock) stones are inversed esoteric symbols which have cursed the building.

The exterior itself was desiged by Giuseppe Valeriani, while a series of big-name baroque artists, including Francesco Solimena, Luca Giordano and Cosimo Fanzago, transformed the barrel-vaulted interior into the frescoed wonder that you see today.

In sharp contrast to the opulence of the main church is a small chapel dedicated to the much-loved local saint Giuseppe Moscati. Here you'll find walls covered with ex votos (including golden syringes) and a recreation of the great man's study, complete with the armchair in which he died. Canonised in 1977, Moscati (1880-1927) was a local doctor who spent his life helping the city's poor.