COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE DONNAREGINA

Of the vast convent complex occupied by the Franciscan nuns from the ^13th century to 1861, you can visit the ^14th-century Gothic church of Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia, the ^17th-century Baroque church of Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova, and the diocesan museum. Instead of opting for a complete transformation of their church to conform to the Baroque tastes of the time, the sisters preferred to build a new church adjacent to the first. The Gothic church and its frescoes have survived to the present day, much to the delight of art lovers!

Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova and Museo Diocesano. The tour begins with a visit to the ^17th-century church lining the small square of Largo Donnaregina. Construction work began in 1617, and the great artists of the time, such as Solimena and Luca Giordano, took part. The single nave, covered by a low vault decorated with frescoes and flanked by chapels, is very harmonious with its exuberant decoration of polychrome marble and gilding. The diocesan museum is built around the nave, upstairs, and features numerous paintings by mostly regional artists, as well as liturgical furnishings. Shows are regularly organized in the church on Sundays before noon; attending a classical music concert or a performance of Caravaggio's tableaux vivants in this shimmering setting is a great moment of wonder. The entrance ticket also entitles you to visit the complex afterwards (book online).

Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia. Its construction, in 1307, was financed by Mary of Hungary, wife of Charles II of Anjou. Here you can contemplate the queen's funerary monument, sculpted by Sienese artist Tino di Camaino and supported by four Virtues. Beneath the deceased reclining on a sarcophagus, seven niches with tri-lobed arches house representations of her seven children. A marvellous work of medieval art, it became the model for court burials. The church's single nave is surmounted on the second floor by the nuns' choir, whose walls are entirely covered with ^14th-century frescoes by the school of Pietro Cavallini, a Roman painter who also worked on the church of San Domenico Maggiore. Their reddish hue is the result of a fire in 1390, which altered the colors. Don't miss the Loffredo chapel, also covered in frescoes.