Description
The Cloister of San Lorenzo Maggiore is one of the monumental cloisters of Naples, in the convent next to the basilica, at number 36 via dei Tribunali. A pause of silence in the historic center, with layers of history beneath and around it.
What you see is an 18th-century cloister, the last transformation of the original 14th-century Gothic construction. At the center is a well with a marble and piperno wellhead, signed by Cosimo Fanzago.
On the east side opens the chapter hall: a Gothic arch with travertine profiles and two four-light windows with little tuff columns. At the back is the Sixtus V Hall. The frescoes of both are by Luigi Rodriguez, from the 17th century.
Don't miss, beside the passage toward the church, the tomb of Errico Puderico: out of humility he asked to be buried outside the place of worship, and his son Francesco made it for him in 1467. On the lunette of the portal is the fresco by Montano d'Arezzo.
On the opposite side opens the chapel of the Arciconfraternita di Sant'Antonio, which according to tradition was created in 1623 by the viceroy to whom the saint had appeared in a dream.
In 1344 an illustrious guest lived here: Francesco Petrarca. The cloister that welcomed him was still the Gothic one. Going down beneath the cloister you reach the remains of the Roman market of the ancient city.
In the 16th century the cloister served as an arms depot for the Spanish viceroys.
On the north side are the monument to Giuseppe Bondola and the tomb of Francesco Palmieri, both in marble. An inscription on the architrave recalls a 15th-century intervention commissioned by Carlo Miroballo. In the lunette of the chapter hall there was a fresco, now detached, with Saint Francis handing the Rule to the Friars Minor and the Poor Clares.
From the cloister you can easily see how the convent was a multi-level organism: above, the friars' quarters; below, the Roman market; in between, the cloister garden with the well in the middle.
The cloister is part of the Museo dell'Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore, which also includes the underground excavations.
What you see is an 18th-century cloister, the last transformation of the original 14th-century Gothic construction. At the center is a well with a marble and piperno wellhead, signed by Cosimo Fanzago.
On the east side opens the chapter hall: a Gothic arch with travertine profiles and two four-light windows with little tuff columns. At the back is the Sixtus V Hall. The frescoes of both are by Luigi Rodriguez, from the 17th century.
Don't miss, beside the passage toward the church, the tomb of Errico Puderico: out of humility he asked to be buried outside the place of worship, and his son Francesco made it for him in 1467. On the lunette of the portal is the fresco by Montano d'Arezzo.
On the opposite side opens the chapel of the Arciconfraternita di Sant'Antonio, which according to tradition was created in 1623 by the viceroy to whom the saint had appeared in a dream.
In 1344 an illustrious guest lived here: Francesco Petrarca. The cloister that welcomed him was still the Gothic one. Going down beneath the cloister you reach the remains of the Roman market of the ancient city.
In the 16th century the cloister served as an arms depot for the Spanish viceroys.
On the north side are the monument to Giuseppe Bondola and the tomb of Francesco Palmieri, both in marble. An inscription on the architrave recalls a 15th-century intervention commissioned by Carlo Miroballo. In the lunette of the chapter hall there was a fresco, now detached, with Saint Francis handing the Rule to the Friars Minor and the Poor Clares.
From the cloister you can easily see how the convent was a multi-level organism: above, the friars' quarters; below, the Roman market; in between, the cloister garden with the well in the middle.
The cloister is part of the Museo dell'Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore, which also includes the underground excavations.