CHIESA E CHIOSTRO DI SAN GREGORIO ARMENO

In the 8th century, on the ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, the church and convent were founded by nuns who had fled iconoclastic persecution in Byzantium, taking with them the relics of Saint Gregory of Armenia. Since then, the church has also been dedicated to St. Patricia, as her relics were in turn transferred there in 1864. Its façade is preceded by a portico with Tuscan pillars. Inside, the single nave and its side chapels display an orgy of stuccoes and gilding in an assumed Baroque style. The dome is decorated with a Glory of San Gregorio by Luca Giordano.

The cloister. The cloister can be reached from the side of the convent, from the Vico Giuseppe Maffei, by climbing the wide staircase with frescoed walls. The cloister of San Gregorio Armeno is, together with that of Santa Chiara, one of the largest and most pleasant in Naples, an island of calm and greenery away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The vegetation is well cared for and you can stroll among terracotta statues, lemon trees and fountains. Notice the two chapels of the small central building. One of them, the last vestige of the medieval convent (although it was completely redecorated in the 18th century), is dedicated to the Madonna de la Idria, a cult of Eastern Christian origin. The remains of an icon are kept on the altar. Finally, through the cloister one can enter the choir of the sisters that dominates the nave of the church of San Gregorio Armeno.