This church was built on orders from Robert the Wise, king
of Naples, in the early 14th century. Subsequently it became the
church for the House of Anjou. Although bombing raids during World War II
heavily damaged the church, it has been restored to its Gothic style favored by
the Provencal architects. The light-filled interior is lined with chapels, each
of which contains a piece of sculpture or fresco left over from the medieval
church. However the best three pieces line the wall behind the High Altar. In
the center is the towering multilevel tomb of Robert the Wise d'Angio, sculpted
by Giovanni and Pacio Bertini in 1343. To its right is Tino di Camaino's tomb
of Charles, duke of Calabria. On the left is the 1399 monument to Mary of Durazza. In
the choir behind the altar are more salvaged medieval remnants of frescoes and
statuary, including pieces of a Giotto Crucifixion.
Cathedral Duomo
This
Cathedral was constructed over an older church in the 13th century. The
cathedral has undergone three major modifications, in the 14th, 17th and 19th
Centuries. The neoclassical facade was added during the latter
renovation. The main attraction of this church is the San Genaro Chapel, where
two bottles with the blood of the saint are kept. San Genaro’s blood is said to
liquefy twice a year or else when a disaster is in the near future.
Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore
San
Lorenzo Maggiore is the greatest of Naples's
layered churches. It was built in 1265 for Charles I over a 6th-century
basilica, which in turn lay over many ancient remains. The interior is pure
Gothic, with tall pointed arches and an apse off of which radiate nine chapels,
gorgeously baroque with inlaid marbles. The highlight of the interior is Tino
da Camaino's canopy tomb of Catherine
of Austria. San Lorenzo preserves the best and
most extensive remains of an ancient Greek
and Roman city currently open to the public. The church foundations are
actually the walls of Neapolis's basilican law courts. Excavated bits of the
Roman city's treasury and marketplace are in the cloisters. The rough remains
of a Roman-era shop-lined street, a Greek temple, and a medieval building are
in the crypt.