Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 081 420 63 85; Via San Gregorio Armeno 44; 9am-noon Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat & Sun; C55 to
Via Duomo) Overstatement knows no bounds at this richly ornamented 16th-century mon-
astic complex, its church featuring lavish wood and papier-mâché choir stalls, a sumptu-
ous altar by Dionisio Lazzari, and Luca Giordano's masterpiece fresco The Embarkation,
Journey and Arrival of the Armenia Nuns with the Relics of St Gregory .
Accessible by a gate on Vicolo Giuseppe Maffei is the complex's superb cloister. Here
you'll find Matteo Bottigliero's whimsical baroque fountain and (at the southern end of
the cloister) the convent's old bakery.
From a door at the southeast corner of the cloister you can access the beautiful coro
delle monache (nuns' choir stall) that looks down on the church. The sneaky windows lin-
ing the oval cupola above belong to a second choir stall.
Chiesa di San
Domenico Maggiore
( 081 45 91 88; Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 8a; 8.30am-noon & 4-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-1pm &
4.30pm Sun; Dante) Completed in 1324 on the orders of Charles I of Anjou, this was the
royal church of the Angevins. Of the few 14th-century remnants surviving the church's
countless makeovers, the frescoes by Pietro Cavallini in the Cappella Brancaccio take the
cake. The sacristy is equally noteworthy, featuring a beautiful ceiling fresco by Francesco
Solimena and 45 coffins of Aragon princes and other nobles.
In the Cappellone del Crocifisso, the 13th-century Crocifisso tra La Vergine e San Gio-
vanni is said to have spoken to St Thomas Aquinas, asking: 'Bene scripsisti di me ,
Thoma; quam recipies a me pro tu labore mercedem?' (You've written good things about
me, Thomas, what will you get in return?) Thomas' diplomatic reply? 'Domine, non aliam
nisi te' (Nothing if not you, O Lord).
Soaring outside on Piazza di San Domenico Maggiore is the Guglia di San Domenico
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , a 17th-century obelisk designed by Cosimo Fanzago,
Francesco Antonio Picchiatti and Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.
CHURCH
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