Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beneath the complex are some remarkable
scavi
(excavations) of the original Graeco-
Roman city, including the ruins of ancient bakeries, wineries and communal laundries. At
the far end of the subterranean
cardo
(road) stands a
cryptoporticus
(covered market) with
seven barrel-vaulted rooms.
The religious complex is also home to the
Museo dell'Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore
and
its booty of local archaeological finds, including Graeco-Roman sarcophagi, ceramics and
crockery from the digs below.
Pio Monte della
Misericordia
( 081 44 69 44;
www.piomontedellamisericordia.it
; Via dei Tribunali 253; admission €6; 9am-2pm
Thu-Tue; C55 to Via Duomo)
Caravaggio's masterpiece
Le sette opere di Misericordia
(The Seven Acts of Mercy) is considered by many to be the single most important paint-
ing in Naples. And it's in this small, octagonal 17th-century church that you'll see it.
The 1st-floor museum is home to the
Declaratoria del 14 Ottobre 1607
, an original
church document acknowledging payment of 400 ducats to Caravaggio for the master-
piece. The collection also includes a small, satisfying collection of Renaissance, baroque
and 19th-century art, including works by Francesco de Mura and Giuseppe de Ribera.
CHURCH, MUSEUM
