Description
The Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore is one of the oldest churches in Naples, in the Porto district, a short walk from the University and Via Mezzocannone. Inside you will find a 6th-century apse, a double Baroque dome and a great Renaissance altarpiece.
The façade is bare, rebuilt in the twentieth century, and gives no hint of what lies within.
The plan is that of a three-aisled basilica with a transept, and the first surprise is overhead: two domes, one over the crossing and a half dome above the high altar, a solution devised by Dionisio Lazzari in the seventeenth century and one of the most original in the city.
Behind the altar is the early Christian apse, with four arches on piers: it is the clearest trace of the ancient church, brought back to light only in 1978, when the seventeenth-century wooden choir that hid it was removed.
In the left aisle, the Ravaschieri chapel holds the altarpiece by Giovanni da Nola, a marble work from 1534 with the Baptism of Jesus at the center and Saint Francis of Paola and Saint James of the Marches at the sides.
In the left transept, the Chapel of the Crucifix has stucco statues of Constantine and his daughter Constantia, by Lorenzo Vaccaro, from 1689. A staircase then leads down to the seventeenth-century crypt, with three aisles of sail vaults and an altar decorated with an altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Legend has it that Constantine himself wanted the church, to thank heaven for saving Constantia from a shipwreck. It was founded around 324, perhaps on the site of a pagan temple dedicated to Hercules or Antinous, and in the 6th century Bishop Vincent rebuilt it on a grand scale: it thus became one of the four main churches of the city.
Then came the earthquakes, in 1635, 1732, 1805 and 1870. After the last one the city council considered razing the church to make a square; it was saved by the tenacity of Canon Giuseppe Perrella, remembered by a plaque along the right aisle.
In 1970 the vault gave way again and the church stayed closed for forty-two years. In that time thieves carried off precious works, including an eleventh-century Romanesque wooden crucifix. It has been open again since 2012, is once more a place of worship and often hosts exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events.
Don't miss
• The early Christian apse.
• Lazzari's double dome.
• The altarpiece by Giovanni da Nola.
• The Chapel of the Crucifix.
Did you know?
• According to an old tradition, a plaque in the left transept marks the tomb of the siren Parthenope, the legendary founder of Naples. There is no proof.
• A small room beside the entrance is the confraternity hall of the Cooks, with a fresco of the Washing of the Feet.
The façade is bare, rebuilt in the twentieth century, and gives no hint of what lies within.
The plan is that of a three-aisled basilica with a transept, and the first surprise is overhead: two domes, one over the crossing and a half dome above the high altar, a solution devised by Dionisio Lazzari in the seventeenth century and one of the most original in the city.
Behind the altar is the early Christian apse, with four arches on piers: it is the clearest trace of the ancient church, brought back to light only in 1978, when the seventeenth-century wooden choir that hid it was removed.
In the left aisle, the Ravaschieri chapel holds the altarpiece by Giovanni da Nola, a marble work from 1534 with the Baptism of Jesus at the center and Saint Francis of Paola and Saint James of the Marches at the sides.
In the left transept, the Chapel of the Crucifix has stucco statues of Constantine and his daughter Constantia, by Lorenzo Vaccaro, from 1689. A staircase then leads down to the seventeenth-century crypt, with three aisles of sail vaults and an altar decorated with an altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Legend has it that Constantine himself wanted the church, to thank heaven for saving Constantia from a shipwreck. It was founded around 324, perhaps on the site of a pagan temple dedicated to Hercules or Antinous, and in the 6th century Bishop Vincent rebuilt it on a grand scale: it thus became one of the four main churches of the city.
Then came the earthquakes, in 1635, 1732, 1805 and 1870. After the last one the city council considered razing the church to make a square; it was saved by the tenacity of Canon Giuseppe Perrella, remembered by a plaque along the right aisle.
In 1970 the vault gave way again and the church stayed closed for forty-two years. In that time thieves carried off precious works, including an eleventh-century Romanesque wooden crucifix. It has been open again since 2012, is once more a place of worship and often hosts exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events.
Don't miss
• The early Christian apse.
• Lazzari's double dome.
• The altarpiece by Giovanni da Nola.
• The Chapel of the Crucifix.
Did you know?
• According to an old tradition, a plaque in the left transept marks the tomb of the siren Parthenope, the legendary founder of Naples. There is no proof.
• A small room beside the entrance is the confraternity hall of the Cooks, with a fresco of the Washing of the Feet.