Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Basilica di
Santa Chiara
BASILICA, CLOISTER
( 081 797 12 31;
www.monasterodisantachiara.eu
; Via Benedetto Croce; cloisters adult/reduced €6/
4.50; basilica 7.30am-1pm & 4.30-8pm, cloisters 9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat, 10am-2pm Sun; Dante)
Vast, Gothic and cleverly deceptive, this mighty basilica is actually a 20th-century re-cre-
ation of Gagliardo Primario's 14th-century Angevin original, severely damaged by Allied
bombing in August 1943. The pièce de résistance, however, is the basilica's adjoining
ma-
jolica cloister
.
Colourful 17th-century, Franciscan-themed frescoes adorn the 14th-century porticoes,
while uplifting 18th-century ceramic tiles idealise country living in the cloister garden.
Adjacent to the cloister, a small
museum
displays objects from the original 14th-century
church, elaborate ecclesiastical props, as well as the excavated ruins of a 1st-century spa
complex; look out for the remarkably well-preserved
laconicum
(sauna).
Museo Archeologico
Nazionale
MUSEUM
( 081 44 01 66;
www.coopculture.it
; Piazza Museo Nazionale 19; admission €8; 9am-7.30pm Wed-
Mon; Museo, Piazza Cavour)
Head here for one of the world's finest collections of Graeco-
Roman artefacts. Originally a cavalry barracks and later the seat of the city's university,
the museum was established by the Bourbon king Charles VII in the late 18th century to
house the rich collection of antiquities he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta
Farnese, as well as treasures looted from Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Before tackling the collection, consider investing in a copy of the
National Archaeolo-
gical Museum of Naples
, published by Electa, or, if you want to concentrate on the high-
lights, audio guides are available in English. It's also worth calling ahead to ensure that
the galleries you want to see are open, as staff shortages often mean that sections of the
museum close for part of the day.
While the basement houses the Borgia collection of Egyptian relics and epigraphs, the
ground-floor
Farnese collection
of colossal Greek and Roman sculptures includes the
Toro
Farnese
(Farnese Bull) in Room XVI and the muscle-bound
Ercole
(Hercules) in Room
XI. Sculpted in the early 3rd century AD and noted in the writings of Pliny, the
Toro
Farnese
, probably a Roman copy of a Greek original, depicts the humiliating death of
Dirce, Queen of Thebes. Carved from a single colossal block of marble, the sculpture was
