Description
The San Gregorio Armeno complex is a Baroque church with its large monastery, in the old center of Naples, halfway along the street of the nativity-scene craftsmen. Behind a sober facade it hides one of the richest, most gilded interiors in the city.
The church has a single nave, covered by a carved and gilded coffered ceiling, commissioned in the late 16th century by Abbess Beatrice Carafa. From the walls to the dome run the 62 frescoed scenes by Luca Giordano, one of his most important works, up to the Glory of Saint Gregory in the dome.
On the inner facade Giordano tells of the Armenian nuns' arrival on the beach of Naples. High up, behind the gilded choir grilles, the nuns followed Mass without being seen: a brass grille beside the altar let the abbess listen to it and the sisters receive communion.
From the monastery you enter the cloister, among the loveliest in Naples, with orange trees, a fountain and the statues of Christ and the Samaritan Woman. Outside, the bell tower spans the street like a bridge and links the two parts of the convent.
According to tradition it all began with a group of nuns fleeing Constantinople, who brought with them the relics of Saint Gregory, patriarch of Armenia. The convent that arose became one of the largest and richest in the city.
The daughters of Naples' great families entered it: the Pignatelli, Caracciolo, Di Sangro. After the Council of Trent, enclosure arrived and, from 1572, church and monastery were rebuilt from scratch, while the nuns kept living there, moving from one wing to another.
Naples has blood that liquefies outside the Cathedral too. Since 1864 the relics of Saint Patricia have been kept here, and her blood, like San Gennaro's, liquefies: that is why many Neapolitans simply call the church Santa Patrizia.
The church has a single nave, covered by a carved and gilded coffered ceiling, commissioned in the late 16th century by Abbess Beatrice Carafa. From the walls to the dome run the 62 frescoed scenes by Luca Giordano, one of his most important works, up to the Glory of Saint Gregory in the dome.
On the inner facade Giordano tells of the Armenian nuns' arrival on the beach of Naples. High up, behind the gilded choir grilles, the nuns followed Mass without being seen: a brass grille beside the altar let the abbess listen to it and the sisters receive communion.
From the monastery you enter the cloister, among the loveliest in Naples, with orange trees, a fountain and the statues of Christ and the Samaritan Woman. Outside, the bell tower spans the street like a bridge and links the two parts of the convent.
According to tradition it all began with a group of nuns fleeing Constantinople, who brought with them the relics of Saint Gregory, patriarch of Armenia. The convent that arose became one of the largest and richest in the city.
The daughters of Naples' great families entered it: the Pignatelli, Caracciolo, Di Sangro. After the Council of Trent, enclosure arrived and, from 1572, church and monastery were rebuilt from scratch, while the nuns kept living there, moving from one wing to another.
Naples has blood that liquefies outside the Cathedral too. Since 1864 the relics of Saint Patricia have been kept here, and her blood, like San Gennaro's, liquefies: that is why many Neapolitans simply call the church Santa Patrizia.