DK Travel : Naples & the Amalfi Coast : Architecture

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Pio Monte della Misericordia

This charitable institution was founded in 1601, inspired by Counter-Reformation precepts which gave weight to such works as a way of ensuring salvation. The church is set back from the street by a five-arch loggia, where pilgrims could find shelter. The altarpiece, The Acts of Mercy by Caravaggio, is a snapshot of a Neapolitan street in the 17th century.
San Domenico Maggiore

Highlights at this 13th-century church include frescoes by Pietro Cavallini.
San Francesco di Paola

A rarity in Naples, this NeoClassical structure imitates the Pantheon, Rome’s great pagan temple to the gods built in the 2nd century AD. Inside and out the basilica is austere, with the exception of the polychrome marble Baroque altar.
San Gregorio Armeno

This church is best known for the cult of St Patricia, whose blood “liquefies” each Tuesday.
San Lorenzo Maggiore

After World War II bombs reduced much of this church to rubble, it was rebuilt to its 13th-century style, save the Baroque façade.
San Paolo Maggiore

The 8th-century church still retains two Corinthian columns and has an annexed sanctuary.
San Pietro a Maiella

Built in the 1300s, San Pietro underwent a Baroque makeover in the 1600s then was returned to Gothic style in the 1900s.
San Pietro ad Aram

Tradition holds that St Peter celebrated his first mass in Naples here, although historians claim the church is 12th-century.
Santa Chiara

The original church here was built in 1310 and, after various renovations, has been returned to its Gothic style. The most famous feature is the adjoining convent’s 18th-century majolica cloister celebrating secular themes.
Santa Lucia

According to legend, a church dedicated to St Lucy was built here in ancient times, although most experts date the earliest structure to the 9th century. Destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly, the present church is postwar. All the artworks were destroyed in World War II bombings, save an 18th-century statue of St Lucy and a couple of paintings.