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Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore
Standing on the site of a pagan temple, the austere Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore is one of Naples' oldest churches, built by St Severus in the 4th century. Despite a thorough restyling by designaholic Cosimo Fanzago in the mid-17th century, the earthy Palaeo-Christian apse survives. (The right-hand nave of the church was demolished to make way for Via Duomo in the late 19th century.) The third chapel features frescoes by Francesco Solimena.
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Cappella Sansevero
For sheer impact, the Cristo Velato (Veiled Christ) sculpture takes some beating. Giuseppe Sanmartino's incredible depiction of Jesus lying covered by a thin sheet is so realistic that it's tempting to try to lift the veil and look at Christ underneath. Similarly lifelike, Francesco Queirolo's Disinganno (Disillusion) shows a man trying to untangle himself from a net, while Pudicizia (Modesty) by Antonio Corradini is a salacious veiled nude.
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Catacomba di San Gennaro
The oldest and most famous of Naples' ancient catacombs, the Catacomba di San Gennaro date to the 2nd century. Originally they belonged to a noble family, but when San Gennaro's body was interred here in the 5th century they became a hotspot for Christian pilgrims. Naples' bishops were also buried here until the 11th century.
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Chiesa del Gesù Vecchio
Baroque cranked up to the max, step inside for sumptuous statues by Cosimo Fanzago and frescoes by Francesco Solimena and Battista Caracciolo. Established in 1570 and completely rebuilt in the 17th century, this is Naples' oldest Jesuit church.
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Chiesa della Pietà dei Turchini
Originally a poorhouse, this modest 16th-century church takes its name from the turchino (deep blue) uniforms the children used to wear. Fashion aside, it's known as a historic conservatory and birthplace of the famous Neapolitan musical group Pietà dei Turchini. One of the conservatory's most famous alumni was the composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725).
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Chiesa di Madre di Buon Consiglio
Feel like you've seen this church before? It may be because it's a snack-size replica of Rome's Basilica di San Pietro. But unlike the real thing, this Neapolitan version is still a relative tot. Completed in 1960, it took 40 years to build. Inside you'll find numerous works of art transferred here after the earthquake of 1980. While none are likely to excite art buffs, the mock-Vatican exterior warrants a quick kitsch Polaroid.
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Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore
Rudely giving its back to the Piazza, this vast Gothic number features a double flight of marble steps leading up to the apse. Completed in 1324 on the orders of Charles I of Anjou, it was built onto the medieval church of San Michele Arcangelo as the royal church of the Angevins.
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Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola
Undisputed star of Piazza del Plebiscito is the colossal Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola, a later addition to the colonnade of columns that formed the highlight of Joachim Murat's original piazza (1809). A neoclassical copy of the Pantheon in Rome, the church is striking more for its size than any artistic merit; its dome measures 34m in diameter and 53m in height.
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Chiesa di San Paolo Maggiore
Leading up to the entrance of this baroque beauty is a grand double staircase built by Francesco Grimaldi in 1603. Situated on the site of a Roman temple, of which the two columns flanking the entrance are the only visible sign, the church dates to the 8th century but was almost entirely rebuilt at the end of the 16th century. A huge, gold-stuccoed interior features stunning paintings and frescoes tucked away in the sacristy.
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Chiesa di San Pietro Martire
Originally commissioned to help clean up the crime-packed port in the 13th century, this Dominican church and monastery received an elegant cloister by Giovan Francesco di Palma in the 16th century. During the decade of French rule (1806-15) the monks were kicked out and the monastery became a tobacco factory. It remained so until 1978 when the professors of the faculty of Literature and Philosophy at University of Naples moved in.
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Chiesa di Sant'Angelo a Nilo
Benignly presided over by a quartet of tubby gilt cherubs, this modest 14th-century church contains one of the first great artworks to grace the Neapolitan Renaissance - the majestic tomb of Cardinal Brancaccio, the church's founder. Although considered a part of Naples' artistic heritage, the sarcophagus was actually sculpted in Pisa. After a year chipping away at it, the artists shipped it down to Naples in 1427.
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Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi
The Chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Lombardi is a sanctified stunner. In fact, it's often spoken of as more a museum of Renaissance art than a church; a fact that owes much to the close links that existed between the Neapolitan Aragonese and the Florentine Medici dynasty.
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Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine
Santa Maria del Carmine plays a starring role in local folklore. When Conrad of Swabia was charged with treason in 1268, his mother desperately tried to raise money to pay a ransom for her son's life. But she was too late and Conrad was beheaded. Grief-stricken, she gave the money to the church, on the condition that the Carmelite brothers prayed for him every day. They agreed and the cashed-up brothers built the church you see today.
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Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno
There are churches and then there is the Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno. Zealously run by a posse of snappy nuns, the recently-restored 16th-century church boasts a jaw-dropping baroque interior designed by Nicolò Tagliacozzi Canale. Highlights include sumptuous wood and papier-mâché choir stalls, a 17th-century marble altar by Dionisio Lazzarn and lavish frescoes by Paolo de Matteis and Luca Giordano.
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Chiesa e Pinacoteca dei Girolamini
Opposite the Duomo is the entrance to the Chiesa dei Girolamini, also called San Filippo Neri, a rich baroque church of two facades. The more imposing 18th-century facade is closed for restoration. The adjoining 17th-century convent features a raffish cloister, complete with rambling lemon trees and faded majolica tiles. A small gallery on the convent's 1st floor features superb local art, including works by Luca Giordano and Battista Caracciolo.
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Chiesa San Giovanni a Carbonara
This fabulous Gothic cluster comprises a church, a chapel and a cloister, fronted by an 18th-century double-flight staircase by stair-meister Ferdinando Sanfelice. While the chapel is currently closed, the wooden-beamed church is a treasure-trove of stunning marble sculpture.
Standing at 18m behind the main altar, the colossal monument to King Ladislas (built in 1428) is a sublime mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles.
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Chiesa San Pietro a Maiella
Not many churches are dedicated to hermits. But not many hermits go on to become popes as Pietro del Morrone did when, in 1294, he was named Pope Celestine V. The typically Gothic interior dates to the 14th century, but the ceiling is pure baroque, with 10 superlative round paintings by Mattia Preti. Along with the impressive gilded wooden ceilings, they were discovered under stucco during a late-19th-century restoration.
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Chiesa Santa Caterina a Formiello
Despite the grime, this richly decorated Renaissance church is one of Naples' most beautiful. Harmoniously proportioned and softly lit, it boasts a series of exceptional frescoes by Luigi Garzi, as well as the relics of the martyrs of Otranto. The martyrs were all killed in 1480 when Turkish invaders swept into the Puglian coastal town after a lengthy siege and vented their bloody fury by killing 800 citizens.
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Chiesa Santa Maria degli Angeli
This yellow-hued baroque church was financed by Costanza Doria del Carretto, a noble lady with a deep purse and pious heart, and donated to the priests of the Teatini order.
Step inside for works by Neapolitan stalwarts Massimo Stanzione and Luca Giordano, as well as Francesco Grimaldi's famous dome.
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Chiesa Santa Maria del Parto
Founded by poet Jacopo Sannazzaro, this Renaissance favourite was built on land donated to him by King Frederick of Aragon in 1497. The church was completed shortly before the poet died in 1530. Sannazzaro's tomb sits behind the altar.
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Chiesa Santa Maria della Sanità & Catacomba di San Gaudioso
Topped by a green-and-yellow tiled dome, the much-loved Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità is known also as the Chiesa di San Vincenzo, in honour of the cult of San Vincenzo Ferreri. Gracing dusty Piazza della Sanità since the 17th century, its architectural highlight is a sumptuous double stairway leading up to a raised altar. Below the altar sits the 5th-century Cappella di San Gaudioso, entrance to the catacombs below.
Read more about Chiesa Santa Maria della Sanità & Catacomba di San Gaudioso
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Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime Purgatorio Ad Arco
Guarded by three bronze skulls, this 17th-century church is macabre. Inside, two winged skulls adorn either side of the main altar. Built by a congregation dedicated to praying for souls in purgatory, the church became a centre for the Neapolitan cult of the dead which, although officially banned, is said to be far from extinct. Cult practices included lavishing care and gifts on a skull as a means of keeping in touch with an absent loved one.
Read more about Chiesa Santa Maria delle Anime Purgatorio Ad Arco
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Chiesa Santa Maria di Piedigrotta
The fishing families of Mergellina had already built a church on this site when, in 1353, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Benedictine monk, a nun and Pietro the Hermit (later to become Pope Celestine V; telling them to build her a church. She was taken at her word and the church was consecrated within the year. Since then, the church has remained the central focus of the Festa di Piedigrotta, celebrated on 8 September.
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Chiesa Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia
Home to Naples University's architectural restoration department, this beautiful 14th century church features a light-filled pentagonal apse, its walls and fan-vaults revealing traces of Giotto-esque frescoes, decorated with Angevin lilies and the red and white stripes of Hungary. Coffered ceilings drip with beautiful frescoes by Pietro Cavallino, while Mary's spectacular marble tomb sits along the left-side wall.
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Chiesa Santa Maria in Portico
Craving baroque? This 17th-century church should hit the spot. Check out the fabulous frescoes by Fabrizio Santafede (a good name for a church painter - 'Santafede' means 'holy faith'), Paolo De Matteis, Giovan Battista and Fedele Fischetti. In the sacristy there's a life-size 17th-century presepe , while the stucco work and high altar is by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.
