Description
The Cloister of San Gregorio Armeno is the secret garden of the nuns of the monastery of the same name, in the historic center of Naples. For centuries it was closed to the city: today it is a quiet corner with orange trees and lookout terraces, a few steps from the street of the nativity scenes.
At the center, among four beds of orange trees, stands the Baroque fountain, with the statues of Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Matteo Bottiglieri. It was commissioned in the 18th century by Abbess Violante Pignatelli.
A little farther on, a Rococo wall, with two terracotta sculptures from 1733 in two niches, hides the cistern. Beside it is the well, which covers the hole from which tuff was quarried for the rebuilding.
The lookout terraces were built to make enclosure less heavy: three remain, two with views toward the sea and one with the dome of San Lorenzo Maggiore in the background. The cells, the pharmacy and the abbess's parlor also overlook the cloister.
Then there is the refectory, with paintings from Francesco Solimena's workshop and two frescoes of the wedding at Cana and the multiplication of the loaves. Farther on, the chapel of the Madonna dell'Idra holds twenty canvases by Paolo De Matteis.
The cloister took its present form between 1572 and 1574, at the wish of Abbess Lucrezia Caracciolo. It was redesigned by copying that of Santi Marcellino e Festo: the choice was practical, because from up there one could take in the city and the landscape at a glance.
The nuns were daughters of the Neapolitan nobility and did not give up their comforts: the service courtyard originally had seventeen kitchens. Beneath the garden, a state-of-the-art water system used water from the aqueduct and rainwater, with 135 steps down to the tunnels.
The 1930 earthquake caused severe damage to the monastery. The restorations that followed stirred debate among experts: an 18th-century staircase was demolished too, to make room for the orphanage's bathrooms.
The cloister opened to everyone only around 1922, when enclosure was abolished.
At the center, among four beds of orange trees, stands the Baroque fountain, with the statues of Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Matteo Bottiglieri. It was commissioned in the 18th century by Abbess Violante Pignatelli.
A little farther on, a Rococo wall, with two terracotta sculptures from 1733 in two niches, hides the cistern. Beside it is the well, which covers the hole from which tuff was quarried for the rebuilding.
The lookout terraces were built to make enclosure less heavy: three remain, two with views toward the sea and one with the dome of San Lorenzo Maggiore in the background. The cells, the pharmacy and the abbess's parlor also overlook the cloister.
Then there is the refectory, with paintings from Francesco Solimena's workshop and two frescoes of the wedding at Cana and the multiplication of the loaves. Farther on, the chapel of the Madonna dell'Idra holds twenty canvases by Paolo De Matteis.
The cloister took its present form between 1572 and 1574, at the wish of Abbess Lucrezia Caracciolo. It was redesigned by copying that of Santi Marcellino e Festo: the choice was practical, because from up there one could take in the city and the landscape at a glance.
The nuns were daughters of the Neapolitan nobility and did not give up their comforts: the service courtyard originally had seventeen kitchens. Beneath the garden, a state-of-the-art water system used water from the aqueduct and rainwater, with 135 steps down to the tunnels.
The 1930 earthquake caused severe damage to the monastery. The restorations that followed stirred debate among experts: an 18th-century staircase was demolished too, to make room for the orphanage's bathrooms.
The cloister opened to everyone only around 1922, when enclosure was abolished.