Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Solimena, Luca Giordano and Cosimo Fanzago transforming the barrel-vaulted interior
into the frescoed wonder that you see today.
Countering the opulence is a small chapel dedicated to the much-loved local saint Gi-
useppe Moscati (1880-1927), a good doc who served the city's poor. Here walls heave
with ex-votos (including golden syringes) and a recreation of the great man's study, com-
plete with the armchair in which he died.
The church lies on the northern side of the beautiful Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, a favourite
late-night hang-out for students and lefties. At its centre soars Giuseppe Genuino's lavish
Guglia dell'Immacolata
, built between 1747 and 1750. On 8 December, the feast of the
Immacolata, firemen scramble up to the top to place a wreath of flowers at the Virgin
Mary's feet.
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)
The 1st floor of this octagonal, 17th-
century church houses a small, satisfying collection of Renaissance and baroque art, in-
cluding works by Francesco de Mura, Giuseppe de Ribera and Paul van Somer. Yet it's the
painting above the main altar that steals the show: Caravaggio's masterpiece,
Le Sette
Opere di Misericordia
(The Seven Acts of Mercy), considered by many to be the single
most important painting in Naples.
Magnificently demonstrating the artist's chiaroscuro style, which had a revolutionary
impact in Naples, the composition was considered unique in its ability to illustrate the
various acts in one seamlessly choreographed scene. Also on display in the 1st-floor gal-
lery is the
Declaratoria del 14 Ottobre 1607
, an original church document acknow-
ledging payment of 400 ducats to Caravaggio for the masterpiece.
CHURCH, GALLERY
Port'Alba
(Via Port'Alba; Dante)
A Mediterranean Diagon Alley,
Port'Alba
is an atmospheric
porthole into the
centro storico
, best experienced on weekday afternoons. Crammed with
bookshops and stalls, it's the place for leather-bound classics, a dog-eared Manzoni or
retro postcards and magazines. The gate, which leads through to Piazza Dante, was
opened in 1625 by Antonio Alvárez, the Spanish viceroy of Naples.
At the eastern end of Via Port'Alba, southbound Via San Sebastiano boasts the world's
greatest concentration of musical-instrument shops, alongside 49th St in New York.
STREET
