Description
The Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore stands in the square of the same name, in the heart of Naples' lower decumanus. Gothic, vast and full of noble chapels, it was the mother house of the Dominicans in the Kingdom of Naples and the church of the Aragonese nobility.
The interior has three naves and is 76 meters long. The gilded coffered ceiling is Baroque, from 1670, while the floor was redone by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro in 1732. There are twenty-seven chapels, with altars and tombs from the 14th to the 16th century.
Don't miss the cell of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the convent: two small rooms where the saint lived and studied between 1272 and 1273. Above the altar is the painted 13th-century crucifix that, according to tradition, spoke to him.
In the sacristy, on the gallery above, rest 45 chests holding the embalmed remains of nobles, almost all Aragonese. Among them are the kings Ferrante I and Ferrante II.
The convent also keeps the Chapter House, with stuccoes in the manner of Fanzago, and the small cloister of the statues. In the old study hall an inscription recalls the saint's pay: one gold ounce a month.
It was commissioned by Charles II of Anjou, for a vow made to the Magdalene during the captivity that followed the Sicilian Vespers. The first stone was laid in 1283 and work lasted until 1324.
Thomas Aquinas taught here, and among the students of that school were Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella, two thinkers who had plenty of trouble with the Church. In 1536 Charles V was received in the church.
On the convent's first floor are two refectories from 1668-1672, with a Last Supper attributed to Vaccaro, and the historic library, considered since the 15th century among the most important in Naples. Near the cell is a relic: a humerus of the saint, donated by the Dominicans of Toulouse, where Thomas is buried.
Over the centuries the complex also had less noble uses. Under Murat, between 1806 and 1815, it was turned over to public works, and between 1865 and 1885, after the suppression of the religious orders, it served as a gym, a school, a shelter for beggars and even a courthouse.
In 1921 Pope Benedict XV raised it to minor basilica. The bombings of 1943 damaged it, and the 1953 restoration brought Cavallini's frescoes back to light.
The interior has three naves and is 76 meters long. The gilded coffered ceiling is Baroque, from 1670, while the floor was redone by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro in 1732. There are twenty-seven chapels, with altars and tombs from the 14th to the 16th century.
Don't miss the cell of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the convent: two small rooms where the saint lived and studied between 1272 and 1273. Above the altar is the painted 13th-century crucifix that, according to tradition, spoke to him.
In the sacristy, on the gallery above, rest 45 chests holding the embalmed remains of nobles, almost all Aragonese. Among them are the kings Ferrante I and Ferrante II.
The convent also keeps the Chapter House, with stuccoes in the manner of Fanzago, and the small cloister of the statues. In the old study hall an inscription recalls the saint's pay: one gold ounce a month.
It was commissioned by Charles II of Anjou, for a vow made to the Magdalene during the captivity that followed the Sicilian Vespers. The first stone was laid in 1283 and work lasted until 1324.
Thomas Aquinas taught here, and among the students of that school were Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella, two thinkers who had plenty of trouble with the Church. In 1536 Charles V was received in the church.
On the convent's first floor are two refectories from 1668-1672, with a Last Supper attributed to Vaccaro, and the historic library, considered since the 15th century among the most important in Naples. Near the cell is a relic: a humerus of the saint, donated by the Dominicans of Toulouse, where Thomas is buried.
Over the centuries the complex also had less noble uses. Under Murat, between 1806 and 1815, it was turned over to public works, and between 1865 and 1885, after the suppression of the religious orders, it served as a gym, a school, a shelter for beggars and even a courthouse.
In 1921 Pope Benedict XV raised it to minor basilica. The bombings of 1943 damaged it, and the 1953 restoration brought Cavallini's frescoes back to light.