Religious, Spiritual sights in Naples
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
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.
Originally, the facade faced the rock, or grotta, to which the church owes its name (piedigrotta means 'foot of the cave'), but in 1553, it was reversed to face the city. In 1853, Enrico Alvino added the current neoclassical facade.
Inside, it's the 13th-centu…
reviewed
-
B
Chiesa Santa Maria Maggiore
The full title of this church, Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, is a reference to a 17th-century practice of kissing the church's pietrasanta (holy stone) to gain indulgences. Dating to the 6th century, the church was originally built by San Pomponio, the Bishop of Naples. According to legend, he did so to appease worried locals, who reported sightings of the devil in the form of a pig on the site.
The church was modified in the 17th century by Cosimo Fanzago, whose dome is visible from miles around. The Romanesque campanile (bell tower) is one of Naples' oldest, built sometime between the 10th and 11th centuries. Adjacent to the church, the 15th-century Cappella Po…
reviewed
-
C
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.
Dedicated to Alexandrian martyr Santa Caterina, the church was completed in 1593. For 300 years it belonged to the Dominicans, but in the 19th century they moved out and the military moved in, transforming it into a wool factory.
reviewed
-
D
La Nunziatella
A hulking red heap perched high above Chiaia, the convent of Nunziatella is home to the sharp, preened cadets of Italy's prestigious Royal Military Academy of the Nunziatella.
Built in 1588, the convent was donated to the Jesuits by its benefactor, noblewoman Anna Mendozza Marchesana della Valle. It was used as a novitiate until the Jesuits were kicked out of town in the mid-18th century.
The adjacent church is also part of the academy. Famous for its beautiful 17th-century baroque interior - frescoes by Francesco de Mura, an altar by Sanmartino, the floor by Ferdinando Sanfelice - it's open to civilians by appointment only.
reviewed
-
E
Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata
The beautiful Gothic arches of the Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata date to the mid-14th century. Situated on the sunken site that Charles I of Anjou had earmarked for his planned Castel Nuovo, the church was built on the wishes of Giovanna of Anjou, who wanted somewhere to conserve a fragment of her most precious relic - Jesus' crown of thorns.
Now used an exhibition space, it's worth a stop for the 14th-century frescoes by Roberto Oderisi.
reviewed
-
F
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.
reviewed
-
G
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.
reviewed
-
H
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.
reviewed
-
I
Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola
The undisputed star of Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples’ largest square, is the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola, a later addition to the colonnade that formed the highlight of Joachim Murat’s original piazza (1809). A neoclassical copy of the Pantheon in Rome, the church was commissioned by Ferdinand I in 1817 to celebrate the restoration of his kingdom after the Napoleonic interlude.
reviewed
-
J
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.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
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).
reviewed
-
L
Chiesa di Sant’Angelo a Nilo
The Chiesa di Sant’Angelo a Nilo is benignly presided over by a quartet of tubby gilt cherubs. A modest 14th-century church, it’s of note for the monumental Renaissance tomb of Cardinal Brancaccio, created by Donatello and others.
reviewed
-
M
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.
reviewed
