Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
( 081 211 08 60;
www.sanlorenzomaggiorenapoli.it
; Via dei Tribunali 316; church admission free, excavations &
museum adult/reduced €9/7; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, to 1.30pm Sun; C55 to Via Duomo)
A master-
piece of French Gothic architecture, this late-13th-century basilica features the 14th-cen-
tury, mosaic-covered tomb of Catherine of Austria, as well as splashes of frescoes by Gi-
otto- collaborator Giovanni Barile in the ambulatory. According to legend, it was here that
Boccaccio first fell for Mary of Anjou, the inspiration for his character Fiammetta, while
the poet Petrarch called the adjoining convent home in 1345.
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
MAP
CHURCH, MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 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 painting 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.
