The Cathedral of Naples: the home of San Gennaro

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The Naples Cathedral, o Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, is probably the most important monumental basilica in Naples, as well as the seat of the archdiocese (the metropolitan see of the Catholic Church), of the regional capital of Campania. The Naples Cathedral is undoubtedly one of the largest and most important churches in the entire city, both from an artistic point of view, given the mixture of several architectural styles ranging from 14th-century Gothic to 19th-century neo-Gothic, and from the point of view of tradition and folklore. It is in the Naples Cathedral which is hosted three times a year the rite of melting the blood of San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples.

History of the Cathedral of Naples

The sacred building was erected starting in the 13th century, in an area where there were already some early Christian structures that were incorporated into the new place of worship desired by Charles I, founder of the Angevin dynasty. Construction continued during the reign of Charles II, who called together French architects to embellish the work, which was finished in 1313 during the reign of Robert of Anjou, who attended the solemn ceremony of naming the cathedral after Santa Maria Assunta by the then Archbishop Umberto d'Ormonte, a prelate originally from Burgundy.

The Naples Cathedral suffered the collapse of the bell tower and facade in 1349, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the early 15th century. Numerous restorations and renovations over the centuries brought the church to how it is known today, passing through the coffered roof over the previous truss roof (1621) and Baroque-style interventions in the chapels in the second half of the 17th century.

Also in the seventeenth century, the so-called dedication to the Assumption was confirmed in the consecration of the church to St. Mary of the Assumption, thanks to the then archbishop Ascanio Filomarino. In the late 1700s further restorations in the Gothic style with influences of the period modified the nave, which was followed a century later by the new neo-Gothic facade, work on which was completed in 1905. Allied bombing during World War II damaged the structure, which received a series of restorations between 1969 and 1972, which uncovered Roman, Greek and medieval archaeological remains that can currently be visited.

The Naples Cathedral consists of a Latin cross plan with three naves, on whose sides are ten chapels, five on each side. On the counter façade of the church are the tombs of Charles I of Anjou and Charles Martel of Anjou, who rests with his wife Clemency of Habsburg. In the transept raised above the nave is the Succorps Chapel, commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa in the 15th century. Entirely made of marble, it is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of the Neapolitan Renaissance, and housed within it are the relics of San Gennaro, which dwell in front of the statue of Cardinal Carafa. The aisles lead respectively to the Basilica of Santa Restituta (left) and to the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro (right). Inside the Basilica of Santa Restituta are valuable features such as the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, the oldest in the entire West, and Greek and Roman archaeological excavations. In the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, erected in 1527 as a votive ex novo to thank the patron saint for delivering Naples from the three scourges, cholera, the Franco-Spanish war, and the eruption of Vesuvius, contains valuable frescoes and marbles that are absolutely worth a visit, along with the Treasure of St. Gennaro, composed of hundreds of donations over the centuries and priceless.

Curiosities about Naples Cathedral

The cathedral over the years has literally incorporated as side chapels two buildings of worship that had sprung up independent of the seat of the archdiocese: namely, the basilica of Santa Restituta, which houses, among other things, the oldest baptistery in the entire West, the one named after St. John in Fonte, and the royal chapel of the Treasure of St. Gennaro, which preserves the blood of the city's patron saint.

The Duomo's bells have equestrian origins: in 1322 Cardinal Filomarino had a huge bronze equestrian statue placed nearby dismantled, as he resented the beliefs and superstitions around the bronze sculpture, which was apparently carved by Virgil through witchcraft and had the power to heal sick horses. Cardinal Filomarino to put an end to these rumors therefore wanted to have the statue melted down to make bells for the cathedral.

One of the novellas in the Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio's most important work, is set in Naples Cathedral. It is the novella of Andruccio da Perugia, who on a visit to the Minutolo chapel in Naples Cathedral comes out with a treasure worth more than five hundred florins.