Naples: Life, Death & Miracles vol. 4

By Jeff Matthews

This is volume 4 (S-Z) of the second edition of the four-volume encyclopedia, Naples: Life, Death & Miracles. The entire set contains 690 separate essays, anecdotes and observations about Naples, Italy and cover history, music, literature, architecture, mythology, biography and general culture and traditions. They are meant to inform as well as amuse, and they range in style from the lighthearted to the serious and scholarly. The combined volumes cover everything from Driving in Naples to an Oral History of Naples in WWII, the San Carlo Theater, Greeks in southern Italy, lives of great writers and composers, the importance of dialect, etc. Is the entrance to Hell really here? Was Shakespeare a Neapolitan? Why do Neapolitans call themselves Parthenopeans? What is the hidden city beneath Naples, and can you really trip and fall into it? Why do they call it the Egg Castle? These and almost any other question you can think of will be answered somewhere in these entries. The volumes have ample graphics and are well indexed. The entries are in alphabetical order but can also provide a casual, jump-in-anywhere reading experience; they can serve as an encyclopedia or a guide. The entries have ample graphics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Matthews
• Release date: Apr 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476298474

Jeff Matthews

I am a longtime resident of Naples and have written about the area extensively. I have also taught English, linguistics and music history at local schools, universities as well as for the US military campus of the University of Maryland in Europe. I am originally from Los Angeles, California.

Book preview

Naples: Life, Death & Miracles

a personal encyclopedia

2nd edition

volume 4

S (S.M. della Sapienza) —Z

by Jeff Matthews

Copyright 2012 Jeff Matthews

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* * * * *

Introduction

Please see main introduction at the beginning of volume 1.

Table of Contents

—S (cont.)

S.M. della Sapienza

S.M. delle Grazie

S.M. del Parto (Birth)

S.M. del Soccorso

S.M. di Montecalvario

S.M. di Montesanto

S.M. di Pietraspaccata

S.M. Donna Regina

S.M. Egiziaca

S.M. in Cosmedin

S.M. in Portico

S.M. la Nova

S.M. Maggiore

S.M. of Jerusalem, new

S.M. Regina Coeli

Santa Marta, church

Santa Patrizia

Santa Teresa a Chiaia

Santa Teresa degli Scalzi

Sant’ Efremo Vecchio

Santissima Trinità

Santobuono, Palazzo

San Vitale

Saracen Towers

Sarno

Scarpetta, E.

Sceneggiata

Schiantarelli, P.

Scopa!

Scugnizzo

Sebeto

Secret Societies

Secret Tunnels

Sedili

Sele River

Semiotics of Pizza

Sepino

Serao, M.

Serao (2)

Sewerage System

Shades (of Venice & Persia!)

Shelley (1)

Shelley (2)

Shelley (3)

Shipbuilding

Sichelgaita

Siege of Naples

Sirens

Sirignano, Palazzo

Slow Food

Smorfia

Snob Club

Snow, Our lady of the

Solfatara

Song is Ended...

Sommer, Giorgio

Spanish Quarter

Spanish villas, early

Spina Corona (fountain)

Spirito Santo

Splendida (ship)

St. Camillis de Lillis

St. Joseph’s Genitals

Stadiums in Naples

Staircase in National Museum

Stalking the Wild Tile

stamps, counterfeit

strikes

Stromboli

Strozzi, tavola (map)

Struscio

Strutt, Arthur John

Subsoil of Naples

Suessula

Swiss in Naples

Sybarites

Symbols of Naples

—T—

Take Two Saints and Call Me

Tamagro river

Tangenziale

Tanucci, B.

Tanucci, B. (misc. item)

Tarsia, Villa

Tasso, T.

Taxis, Petty Theft & Muggings

Taylor, Bayard (eruption of 1868)

Teatro di Corte

Tennyson

Tequila & General Championnet

Terra di Lavoro

Theaters, old

Thalberg, S.

Tiberius—a Fish Story

Toledo, viceroy

Tom & Jerry, & A. Dumas

Tombraiders

Tosca & the Queen of Naples

Totò

Travelling Fountains

Trianon Theater

Troisi, M.

Turtle Rescue Center

Tu Scendi dalle Stelle

Twain, Mark

Two Sicilies?, Why

Two Statues

Two Things that are Gone

Typical Instruments

—U—

UFOs & April Fool's Day

Ugliness

Undercover Cops

UNESCO

urban decay

Urban Expansion of Vomero

Urban Myths

—V—

Vaccaro, D.A.

Valentine's Day

Vanvitelli, L.

van Westerhout, Niccolò

van Wittel, Gaspar

Vedius Pollio

Veiled Christ

Venezia, Palazzo

Verdi & San Carlo

Verdi's Music for the King

Vesuvian Villas

Vesuvius, eruptions, recent

Vesuvius, Good Old Days

Vesuvius, name

Vesuvius National Park

Vesuvius Observatory

Vesuvius, silly items

Vesuvius train

Veterinary Hospital

via Marina

via Tasso

Vico, G.B.

Villa Belvedere

Villa Cimbrone

Villa Comunale, statues

Villa Donn' Anna

Villa Doria d’Angri

Villa Duchesca

Villa Patrizi

Villa Pignatelli

Villa Poggioreale

Villa Rosebery

Vinci, Leonardo

Virgil in Naples

Virgins

Viviani, R.

Volcanoes in general

Volcanoes, comments

Volturno river

Votive Wall Shrines

Vulcano buono

—W-Z—

Wagner & Ravello

Waters of Chiatamone

Whiffenpoof Song

Wind Energy in Campania

Wine, Names & Pest

Winspeare

Wishing Tree

Witches of Benevento

Wizard of Chittenango

Wizard's Secret, the

Women's Journals

WW2 Air Raids on Naples

WW2 Armistice on Capri

WW2 Reopening of San Carlo

Yiddish & Pizza

Young, Lamont

Youth Hostel

Zazà, Dove sta

Zingarelli, N.

Zoo, the

* * * S—(cont.) * * *

S.M. della Pazienza

Santa Maria della Pazienza is commonly called the Cesarea, after Annibale Cesareo, the royal secretary responsible in 1602 for the construction of what was then a church plus major hospital. It is located about halfway up the Vomero hill above the archaeological museum and accessible from below by the main road up, via Salvator Rosa. It is today just above the intersection of that street and Corso Vittorio Emanuele (a major east-west road which did not exist until the mid-1800s). The Cesarea was, at the time it was built, well outside of town. Originally, the church and hospital were under the direct administration of the Holy See. The hospital was closed in the late 1800s under a general move towards secularization of health-care facilities in Naples, and the administration of the church was transferred to the archbishopric of Naples.

* * * * * * *

S.M. della Redenzione dei Captivi

Santa Maria della Redenzione dei Captivi was founded under the name of Santa Maria della Mercede by a pious association set up in 1548 to redeem the Christians captured by the Muslims. (Saracen raids were common in those days along the shores of the kingdom.) The church was renovated in the 18th century following the latest dictates of the Neapolitan rococo; the church is characterized by the magnificent, almost theatrical design of the facade by architect Ferdinando San Felice. It was here that Alfonso Maria de Liguori, future saint and celebrated author of Canti di Natale (Christmas Songs) took the vows to enter the priesthood. The location is fitting since the church is adjacent to the music conservatory and at the top of the street, via San Sebastiano, long known for the presence of a great number of music shops. (There is a lovely, active monastery and church on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius named for Liguori. See: Michele Archangelo.)

An historical display on the premises of the Bank if Naples has this text about the church of Santa Maria della Redenzione dei Captivi:

Aiding the congregation of the Santa Maria della Redenzione dei Captivi to free those of the Kingdom captured and enslaved by the Saracens:

For many centuries, Mediterranean peoples were troubled by piracy. The captives that were taken during these pirate raids were sent as slaves mainly to Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli. The Normans, Swabians, Angevins and Aragonese tried to set up coastal defenses, but it proved very difficult to control two-thousand miles of coastline from San Benedetto del Tronto to Gaeta. Even the Spanish and Austrian viceroys who ruled for approximately 250 years were not able to prevent pirate raids. In fact, there were frequent recurrences because these two European states had never declared war against the Muslims. It was only following the peace treaty of 1740 between the Kingdom of Naples and the Ottoman Empire that a renewal of trade was attempted. However, pirates continued to operate undisturbed in the western Mediterranean up until the early 19th century.

Among its philanthropic works, the Banco e Monte della Pietà contributed to the release of slaves. Each year, the institution would set aside part of its profits which it would entrust to the Confraternity of Santa Maria del Gesù della Redenzione dei Captivi di Napoli, the first Italian lay institution, formed in 1548. The Confraternity would send its representatives—also called Redeemers—to African countries, mainly to Algiers, Tunisia, and to the island of Barcarole. As described in the institution's statutes, a redeemer was required to be a conscientious and upright person, so that his task could be carried out without personal designs, self-interest or attachment. Specially chartered vessels were used for these voyages of Redemption as they were known. On the outbound voyage, the vessels carried gifts for the various Rais, as well as an appropriate amount of money to pay the required ransom to release the slaves.

The slaves were mostly paupers that had been captured in Sicily, Puglia, along the Amalfi coast, and on [the islands of] Ischia and Procida. Without the contribution of the banking institution and other pious organizations, these slaves would never have been able to regain their freedom. After receiving information about the actual condition of the slaves that were to be freed, the governors of the Confraternity set about drawing up special documents (albarani) stating the amount of money to be paid for the slave mentioned in the document. This document served as a guarantee for the release, but payment was made later in Naples after verifying that the slave had actually been released. The average cost of a slave was 100 ducats, but this amount was dependent upon many factors: age, sex, physical health, ability to work and social class. Between the years 1601 and 1615, the accounts held by the Confraternity at Neapolitan banks showed transactions totalling approximately 100,000 ducats, which indicates the large number of Christians that had fallen in to the hands of the infidels.

* * * * * * *

S.M. della Sanità

The dome and belfry of the basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità rise conspicuously above the modern road level. Modern in this case refers to the early 1800s, when the French rulers of Naples decided to extend the main road, via Toledo, north out of the city and up to the Capodimonte Palace. The new road essentially passed above the section of Naples called Sanità, still today one of the most crowded sections of the city, the tight and twisting alleys of which were largely untouched by modern renovations of the city in the 20th century. The road was called Corso Napoleone for a short time after it was built but is now via Santa Teresa degi Scalzi (named for the nearby church of Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, the first church and monastery [1612] of the Discalced Carmelite Order in Naples. Discalced means barefoot. #94, below.) At the point where the street passes over the Sanità, the street name changes to Corso Amedeo di Savoia Duca d'Aosta.

The church is popularly referred to as San Vincenzo della Sanità, after the Dominican saint, Vincenzo Ferreri, particularly revered in the Sanità quarter of Naples. The basilica was built between 1602 and 1613 and was actually built atop an original house of worship buried by mudslides centuries earlier and rediscovered in 1569. The original church was connected to the veneration of San Gaudioso bishop of Abitina in the Roman province of Africa (approximately, parts of modern Tunisia and Libya). Tradition says that Gaudioso died in Naples in c.451 after being set adrift from the north African coast by the Vandal King Genseric. At Gaudioso’s death in Naples, his remains were interred in the catacombs that bear his name today. His followers then founded a monastery at Caponapoli, a short distance away but within the ancient city walls (approximately, the height looking north over the National Museum and moved his remains there. That led to the abandoning of the active religious community that had grown up in the original area and to a long period of neglect not rectified until the 1500s when a 6th-century image of the Madonna and Child was uncovered in the area. (That painting is now in the basilica.) This started a wave of pilgrimages that turned into true urban expansion as the Neapolitan populace started to move outside the historic city walls for the first time. That, in turn, led to the construction of the Basilica beginning, as noted, in 1602. The main altar (photo, below) was purposely set atop and joined internally to the paleo-Christian catacombs of San Gaudioso; access is from the space beneath the altar.

The Basilica is considered one of the most important monuments to the Counter-Reformation in Naples and the interior is a palimpsest, from preexisting burial grounds to architecture of the Counter-Reformation and then to more modern works including 19th-century handicraft and recently acquired works of modern art. Art work on the premises includes a number of paintings by Luca Giordano. The spectacular marble pulpit and double stairway combine to form one of the most theatrical affairs of its kind in any church in the city and, perhaps, in all of Italy. That construction is from the years 1677-1705. Towering above the scene is a magnificent organ from the early 1700s, last restored in 1940. According to information from Gian Marco Vitagliano, a Neapolitan restorer of such instruments, this one has two manuals (keyboards) and about 2,000 pipes. It is, alas, not currently in working order and plans for restoration are unclear. (See: Organ Restoration.)

* * * * * * *

Santa Maria della Sapienza

The church of Santa Maria della Sapienza is one of the large, old churches in Naples that no one notices. It is on via Costantinopoli near Piazza Bellini, an area greatly affected by the risanamento, the urban renewal of the city in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Specifically, the church and convent were affected by the construction of the nearby First Polyclinic Hospital and medical school of the University of Naples, which required the demolition of some nearby buildings. After the unification of Italy, it was common practice in Naples to convert old monasteries to secular use, usually leaving the adjacent churches intact. (Sometimes they didn’t, as in the case of the church of Croce di Lucca, the old convent of which was adjacent on the south to the convent of S.M. della Sapienza.) The Sapienza convent was demolished, but the church was left standing; yet, it has been closed for many years and is badly in need of restoration.

There was a convent on the site in 1519, quite early in the period of the Spanish vice-realm in Naples. The unusual name, Sapienza (knowledge) derives from what was on the property before that: a shelter for poor students, sponsored by Oliviero Carafa (1430-1511), from one of the best-known families in medieval and Renaissance Naples. He was an Italian cardinal, the archbishop of Naples, friend of popes (and would-be Pope, himself), diplomat and great intellectual patron of Renaissance arts. (He is, for better or worse, remembered today for his opposition to Michelangelo's use of nude figures in the fresco of The Last Judgement.) The name Sapienza stayed with the premises when the convent was built. The later configuration of S.M. della Sapienza comes from a complete rebuilding done between 1625 and 1670. Some sources claim that the remake was the idea of Francesco Grimaldi (1543-1613), whose work in Naples on the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro in the cathedral and Santa Maria degli Angeli a Pizzofalcone is well-documented. That is possible, but he died before real work had even begun; thus, the premises took their newer form through the work of two other architects, primarily Giovan Giacomo di Conforto and Orazio Gisolfo. Most sources attribute the facade to Cosimo Fanzago, the greatest Neapolitan architect of the time. The interior was noteworthy for the presence of frescoes by Belisario Corenzio (c. 1558 - 1643) and paintings by Giovanni Ricca, Domenico Gargiulo (aka Micco Spadaro), and Andrea Vaccaro, among others. The paintings have long since been removed from the decaying church for safekeeping.

* * * * * * *

S.M. delle Grazie

Santa Maria delle Grazie is below the Corso Vittorio Emanuele at a small square called Piazza Mondragone, a name historically applied to the entire premises that contain the small church: il Retiro di Mondragone, the Mondragone Retreat. The entire complex was originally a conservatory, in the early non-musical use of the word to mean a shelter, a place where widows and destitute women might be cared for. The complex was founded in 1653 by Elena Aldobrandini, countess of Mondragone. Construction of the church, itself, was somewhat later than the shelter; the church is from 1715. Urbanization and subdivision of the area has reduced Santa Maria della Grazie to a rather sorry state. For a long time, it was simply closed but has recently been at least partially restored. It is considered an outstanding example of late Baroque art and architecture in Naples.

* * * * * * *

S.M. del Parto (Birth)

Santa Maria del Parto (Birth) overlooks the small port of Mergellina and is quite easy to underlook if you are busy with the daily portside routine. Yet, the church is very old and very historic. It was founded by the great Neapolitan poet Iaccopo Sannazzaro on land he obtained in 1497 from Frederick II of Aragon. The king also gave Sannazzaro a stipend; thus, the poet spent the last years of his life working on his church and his poem, De partu Virginis, at the same time.

Although the entire complex has been divided and subdivided over the years, it is evident that the whole affair was once a single unit and was much bigger than the quaint church on top (photo). The original plans called for a two-level complex—the church that you see today on top and another church dug in the tufaceous cliff face below at a point where there was a cave that contained a well-known wooden presepe (manger scene) by Giovanni da Nola. The premises also included a monastery, using part of an earlier structure that had been on the site from the time of the Angevin dynasty. The first church was finished in good order, but the second part had some problems in the early 1500s due to a plague epidemic that forced Sannazzaro to leave Naples. Also, the French and Spanish were still fighting for control of the area; thus, at one point in the 1520s, the new church was converted into a military fortification. Before his death, Sannazzaro managed to get the property back, and heirs finished the project. Later, the monastery part was closed by the French in the early 1800s and, for a while, those premises became the private property of the Neapolitan opera impresario, Domenico Barbaia.

* * * * * * *

S.M. del Soccorso

The Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso [Succour or Eternal Help] all’Arenella is at the beginning of what is now called the high Vomero (although Arenella was traditionally a separate village). A plaque outside the church lists the first priest to minister to the parish as one Giacomo Francesco Conte, 1599. The church originally had an adjacent monastery, long since converted to secular use. There is little left of the original church on the outside; the façade is a result of restoration done since the late 1700s and as late as 1960. The church is near the birthplace of Arenella’s favorite son, the poet and painter, Salvator Rosa.

* * * * * * *

S.M. di Montecalvario

Santa Maria di Montecalvario is in the heart of the Spanish Quarter of Naples. The church was founded in 1560 with a donation by the Neapolitan noblewoman Ilaria d'Apuzzo. It was consecrated as a Franciscan establishment in 1574. This church, too, was originally part of a monastic complex. The monastery was one of the many that were closed in Naples during the brief French rule of the kingdom in the early 1800s. For some years it served as a barracks. The church has been maintained since 1923 by fathers of the Mercedari Order. Among the many art works of interest in the church are some attributed to Giacomo di Cosenza, but, in any event, to the school responsible for introducing into the Kingdom of Naples in the 1520s the modern styles of Raffaello and Michelangelo.

* * * * * * *

S.M. di Montesanto

Santa Maria di Montesanto is the final resting place of Alessandro Scarlatti, the great composer of the Neapolitan Baroque. The original foundation of a church in Naples built by Carmelite fathers from Sicily was in 1640 on other premises, near the old San Bartolomeo theater, the original opera house in Naples. That proved too noisy an environment for the order and they moved to a new site at Montesanto, at the base of the San Martino hill, in 1646. The architect of the church and adjacent monastery was Pietro de Marino; the dome is by Dionisio Lazzari. It was finished in 1680.

The church contains a bust of San Gaetano, invoked by the people as a protector from the great plague of 1656 and at the origin of a typically Neapolitan story. Farmers coming down to this church from the San Martino hill had to walk a ways along the outside of the city wall and come in through the major Royal Gate past the church of the Spirito Santo. Rather than do all that walking, they simply knocked a hole in the wall nearer to their church and came straight on in. The Spanish viceroy at the time, Ramiro Guzman, finally caved in and officialized the hole, calling upon the great architect, Cosimo Fanzago, to make it into a worthy gate. He did, after which it was called Porta Medina. To the people, it was Porta Pertuso—Neapolitan dialect for hole. All the walls and gates in that area were eliminated in the 1870s, and the guardian bust of San Gaetano, mounted over The Hole, was moved into the church.

* * * * * * *

S.M. di Pietraspaccata

—a cave church

There is an extensive network of caves and tunnels that lie both beneath the city or that are dug into the tufa hills surrounding the city. Most of them have served practical purposes over the centuries; that is, they have been quarries, aqueducts, and tunnels for both ancient and modern modes of transportation. A few of them have been cemeteries (such as the Fontanelle, v. 1,#86), but as far as I know there have not been many so-called cave churches in Naples. There are examples of cave churches elsewhere in southern Italy, primarily in Matera (the entire town was cut into the side of a cliff) or in Fasano, near Brindisi (again, the church was part of an entire cave village), and a few others.

An ideal place to dig a hole in a tufa mountain in Naples would be on the northwest slope behind the great Camaldoli hill, itself a remnant wall of the great archiflegrean caldera collapse eons ago. That is where we find the town of Marano and the cave church of Santa Maria di Pietraspaccata (split stone) built on and in the hill in woods that slope down towards the town of Quarto. The church is in a state of total decay and those concerned with preserving the cultural artifacts of the area have launched an appeal to save it. I don't see that as impossible; I do see it as difficult, however.

The history of the church is obscure, at least as to the original use of the site for religious purposes. A Christian church, a hermitage, goes back at least to the 1600s, but the man-made cave, itself, shows some evidence of being much older than that and may have been a cult site or even a cemetery in the days of ancient Rome.

Interestingly, though the church is in terrible condition, there are still religious rites, including baptisms and communion, held on the site; the figure of Our Lady of Pietraspaccata is still revered by locals, who have managed to keep at least part of the premises in working order. One of the legends connected with the site is that of the massive rock that split from the cliff side during the construction of the original hermitage; it splintered and changed in mid-flight into a likeness of the Madonna, which was then displayed as the iconic religious relic of the church. It was stolen in the 1970s, according to one source. The structure that will have to be restored includes the stairway entrance and facade in the rock face, three separate inside levels around the main chapel, and, as long as we are making a wish list, the murals on the wall and the majolica tiles in various places. There is also a belfry in shambles. I don't imagine there is any hope of getting the Madonna back.

* * * * * * *

Santa Maria Donna Regina

The Church of Santa Maria Donnaregina is one block from the Duomo. The church that we see today was built between 1307 and 1320 by Mary of Hungary, wife of Charles II of Anjou, and is on the site of an ancient monastic complex dating back to the eighth century. The pillars which form the three naves support the Nuns' choir, which preserves on its walls frescoes by Pietro Cavallini and assistants. They date from the second decade of the 14th century and are a good example of Neapolitan Gothic mural decoration. In the left wall is the tomb of Mary of Hungary, a work by Tino Camaino. The remains of the flooring of the original, primitive church are assembled on a panel in a nearby chamber. Among items of artistic interest is the series of frescoes on the wall, attributed to the Roman artist Filippo Rusuti and his students. They depict The Last Judgment, The Prophets, and The Apostles.

Since October 2007, the church has housed the new Diocesano Museum. (Diocesan in English is the adjective from diocese, the area under the jurisdiction of a bishop; thus, the museum is the Diocese Museum. It is, in fact, directly across from the residence of the archbishop of Naples.)

The restoration and conversion to a museum has been spectacularly successful (photo, above). There are two floors containing hundreds of items of religious art on permanent display, including works by Solimena, Falcone, Giordano and de Matteis; there are also unique items such as a collection of reliquary crosses. There are also a great many anonymous works, often displayed prominently in the six side chapels on either side of the single nave. Special items on temporary display, such as, for example, an exhibit in the summer of 2009 dedicated to a recently found wooden sculpture of the Crucified Christ by Michelangelo, are shown in a special area—what used to be the large choir loft at the front of the church above the main altar.

Technically, the church is called Donna Regina Nuova (new) to distinguish it from the nearby Donna Regina Vecchia (old). Originally, it was all a single complex. The old church dates back to the eighth century. After the earthquake of 1293, Queen Mary of Hungary, wife of Charles II of Anjou, decided to build a new convent on the site, where she also wanted to be buried. Then, the nuns of Donna Regina decided to build the new church (above), while the old one stayed within the confines of the convent. Today, Donna Regina Vecchia houses a museum for contemporary art named the Museo MADRE (an acronym for Museo d'Arte Donna Regina).

* * * * * * *

S.M. Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone

Santa Maria Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone is one of the two main houses of worship in the area of Naples known as Pizzofalcone (or Mt. Echia, or Monte di Dio); that is, the hill overlooking the Egg Castle. (The other one is S.M. degli Angeli a Pizzofalcone. See above.) The Egiziaca church is also known popularly as Immacolata a Pizzofalcone, since it is the seat of the parish of that name. (There is, however, a nearby church with the legitimate name of Immacolata a Pizzofalcone, but it has been closed for many years.) The entrance is at via Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone 30, where very large wooden doors open onto the courtyard in front of this absolute jewel of a church.

The church is named for Santa Maria Egiziaca (known in English as Mary of Egypt and also Maria Aegyptica), the patron saint of penitents and revered by Christians of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and Coptic faiths. The church and adjacent convent were founded in 1616 by sisters of the Order of St. Augustine when they left an earlier church called Egiziaca a Forcella (still in existence) for larger and more secluded premises. (These two churches may be the only active ones in Italy dedicated to this particular saint. There used to one in Rome, but it was deconsecrated and closed in the mid-20th century. Also, there used to be a convent in Milan dedicated to S. Maria Egiziaca and the Holy Spirit; it existed between 1555 and 1782.)

The church and convent of S.M.Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone were redesigned in 1648 to the plan of Cosimo Fanzago, the most prominent architect in Naples at the time; the work, itself, then passed to the direction of F.A. Picchiatti, among others, in 1655. The entrance is marked by a picturesque stairway flanked by two columns, all set into a convex facade. The interior design is ingenious (even if Fanzago's original design was slightly altered by later architects): it is very symmetrical and built on the idea of two overlapping Greek crosses (i.e. a cross that has all limbs of equal length). There is a major cross and a smaller, minor one. The latter is rotated 45 degrees such that from above the impression is of a compass showing the 4 major points at N, S, E & W and the minor cross indicating the intermediate points. Thus you have eight equally spaced points around the perimeter with chapels in six of the eight end spaces. The other two spaces are occupied by the entrance (W), and the main altar (E). All of this is beneath a relatively high vault. Although built in the Baroque period and generally of Baroque design, the Egiziaca church is especially interesting in that it is in a small group of churches in Naples from that period that rejected the Baroque concept of making the interior as spacious and ornamental as possible. Santa Maria Egiziaca has a simple stucco interior with a majolica tile floor (from 1717). It is a beautiful and efficient use of space enhanced by an intimacy (because of the smaller size) more reminiscent of Greek Orthodox churches rather than large Roman Catholic ones.

The convent was closed in 1808 under Murat in what religious historians in Italy term the first suppression (because there was a second one shortly after the unification of Italy in 1861). The church was reopened but the convent was not. Currently the religious premises consist of the church, itself, and the small northern part of the original building (on the left as you face the church), currently the seat in Naples of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate). The rest of the original building, that is, the large convent, now serves secular purposes (as is the case with most ex-monasteries and convents in Italy.)

Most of the artwork in the church is from the early 1700s, although there is a large canvas on the high altar from the 1600s by Onofrio Palumbo of The Virgin, Santa Maria Egiziaca and Saint Augustine. There are two paintings by Paolo de Matteis from 1717 depicting The Virgin and The Saints. As well, there are sculptures in wood by Nicola Fumo, also from 1717, of a Guardian Angel, The Immaculate Conception, and Saint Michael Archangel. Noteworthy, as well, is the marble main altar by Giuseppe Bastelli, from 1738. It displays sculpture by Giuseppe Sanmartino, sculptor of the famous Veiled Christ, v.3,#23). The altar also displays multi-hued marble inlay of the crests of Neapolitan families who helped finance the building of the church.

Of some social interest is the fact the some of the early financing for the church also came from John of Austria as a reward to the inhabitants of the area served by the new church for having remained faithful to the Spanish crown during Masaniello's Revolt (1647). (John of Austria was the son of the king of Spain and had been sent to Naples to put down the rebellion.)

Somewhat beyond the scope of this entry (but useful if you plan on going on any quiz shows!) is a mention of how pervasive this patron saint of penitents is in Christian hagiography. Icons of Mary of Egypt are abundant in the Orthodox and Coptic faiths and, as well, there are numerous paintings of her in the Latin church, including ones by A. Vaccaro, de Ribera, Tintoretto, and Luca Giordano. (That last one, sadly, was stolen from the other Egiziaca church in Naples, mentioned above, in 1993 and, to my knowledge, has not been recovered). Farther afield, she crops up in Robert Graves' The White Goddess (1948): ...Mary of Egypt can be identified with Mary Gipsy, a virgin with a blue robe and a pearl necklace. Otherwise known as Marina, Marian or Maria Stellis. She is supposedly a remote descendant of Aphrodite, the love goddess from the sea. There are also at least two 20th-century operas based on the life of Mary of Egypt, by John Travener (1992) and Ottorino Resphigi (1932). Perhaps the foremost example that comes to mind combines music and literature: Mary of Egypt appears as one of the three Penitent Women at the end of Goethe's Faust. They are: the woman who washes Christ's feet with her tears (in Luke, ch. 7), the Samaritan woman at the well (in John, ch. 4 ), and Maria Aegyptiaca. They offer prayers to Mater Gloriosa to intercede for the salvation of Faust's soul, and the text of those prayers was then incorporated into Mahler's magnificent symphony no. 8, the so-called Symphony of a Thousand.

sources:

Ruotolo, Renato. Santa Maria Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone. Entry in Napoli Sacra, Guida alle Chiese della Città. Itinerario 12. Sopraintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici. Pub. Elio De Rosa, Pozzuoli, 1996.

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S.M. in Cosmedin

If the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is as old as legend says it is, no wonder UNESCO is willing to chip in €950,000 to restore it as a museum. That is, if it was really founded by Constantin the Great—around the year 300—that would put the church in the first ranks of paleo-Christian houses of worship in Naples. At the very least, the church is at least as old as one of the same name in Rome from the 500s, and, in any event, has been documented to be one of the first four parishes in Naples. The unusual name comes from the Greek adjective cosmedin (from Greek kosmidion), meaning ornate. The church in Naples held both Greek and Latin rites until around the year 1200.

S.M. Cosemedin is also called S.M. di Portanova (New Gate) from its location near a medieval city gate of that name. The small square in front of the church is still called Portanova and is about one block in (i.e., to the north) from the modern straight boulevard named Corso Umberto, not far from the main building of the Federico II University.

The structure has been closed since the 1980 earthquake and is in impossibly bad and unsafe condition. Virtually nothing of the artistic interior remains, all having been either stolen/vandalized or removed for safekeeping. The configuration that one sees today is from the late 1600s and early 1700s, concealing the grounds beneath the main body of the church, site of a burial ground and presumably whatever remains of the original paleo-Christian premises. There are upper stories, as well. Through the centuries, various monastic orders found a home in an adjacent monastery, removed during the risanamento, the urban renewal of the late 1800s. That construction/demolition also removed an ornate Baroque double stair-case at the entrance. I have heard nothing of current plans to start restoration or of the disposition of the monies supposedly allocated by UNESCO.

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Santa Maria in Portico

Santa Maria in Portico was built in 1632 and, at the time, was almost on the beach, which fact is difficult to appreciate, what with the intervening centuries of urbanization (including the large park, the villa comunale) that have pushed the church inland, so to speak. The church was one of those that grew up in the 1600s to serve the needs of the then new community of Spanish nobility that was stringing sumptuous villas along the seaside. The architect was Nicola Longo and the edifice was financed by the duchess of Gravina, Felice Maria Orsini, whose vast property was adjacent to the site of the church.

The church grounds were originally much larger than what one sees today and included monastic quarters and a number of gardens. The complex also contained at one time the Orsini art collection and was, in fact, so palatial that the new Spanish viceroy, Marquis del Carpio, chose it as his residence upon his arrival in Naples in 1683. The closing of nearly all monastic property in Italy in the 1860s following the unification of Italy led to an inevitable breaking up of the complex, but it is still impressive. The facade is apparently not by Cosimo Fanzago, as was long thought, but rather by Arcangelo Guglielmelli and was done in 1682.

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S.M. la Nova

The original monastery and home of the Franciscan order that inhabits the church of Santa Maria La Nova was where the present-day Castel Nuovo, or Maschio Angioino, stands. In 1279 the order ceded that property to Charles of Anjou for his new royal palace and, in return, got the new site for their church. Thus the name Nova (new) for this house of worship with the elegant Renaissance façade. The original ‘new’ church, then, was built in the late 1200s. That original Angevin building was removed in 1596 to make way for a new structure planned and built by Giovan Cola di Franco. It is the church you see today as you start into the old center of town via a small side-street off of via Monteoliveto across from the east side of the main post office. The main altar is from 1633 and was designed by Cosimo Fanzago.

The most spectacular work of art within the church—indeed, one of the most spectacular in the entire city—is the magnificent 46-panel gilded fresco on the ceiling (photo, top). The fresco dates back to 1600 and is the collective work of a number of artists, including Luca Giordano. Various magnifying mirrors are set up at ground level within the church to enable visitors to view the ceiling more easily. The church, itself, is an integral part of the whole monastic complex, much of which now houses municipal office space.

Santa Maria la Nova was closed in 1980 due to damage caused by the earthquake in that year; it was reopened in 1992 for a few years, at which time visitors had the opportunity to view the splendid magnificent interior of the church. It was closed in 1997 for repairs to the building and, in particular, to restore the ceiling fresco. It was then reopened with an orchestral and choir concert broadcast by the Italian national television network.

That marked beginning of what everyone hopes will be a prosperous future for the building and adjacent monastery. The church will no longer be a house of worship. There are enough churches in this area to handle the demand, says Father Giuseppe Reale of the resident Franciscan order. Santa Maria La Nova will be transformed into a Center for Sacred Music; the acoustics are already known to be outstanding, and the church organs are fine instruments and have been restored. Most interesting—this is where the prosperous part comes in—is the plan to turn part of the monastery, itself, into a four-star hotel! This will be the second such Franciscan venture into the hotel business in Naples. The San Francesco del Monte hotel on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, overlooking the whole city of Naples and with a direct view of Mt. Vesuvius and the Sorrentine peninsula, has been open for a while and seems to be doing well.

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Santa Maria Maggiore

The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the four large basilicas