CHIESA DEI SANTI SEVERINO E SOSSIO

This monumental religious complex comprising the church and the convent organized around several cloisters was founded in the 10th century by the Benedictines. It was completely rebuilt in 1490, and the church was further rebuilt until the 18th century, when the present façade was built. Inside the single nave is covered by a vault entirely decorated with frescoes by Francesco De Mura illustrating scenes from the life of St Benedict (1740). The original paving consists of the numerous tombstones of the Neapolitan nobility. In the side chapels there are several paintings by Marco Pino (16th century), a painter of Sienese origin inspired by the art of Michelangelo and Raphael, who was one of the major representatives of the Mannerist style in Naples. In the choir, the 16th-century stalls are covered with very fine marquetry, which served as a model for other churches. The convent is now the seat of the Archivio di Stato. The two Renaissance cloisters (chiostro dei Marmi and chiostro del Platano) are unfortunately only visible two Saturdays a month during the guided tours organised by the Touring Club. The Platano cloister (the plane tree that St. Benedict is said to have planted there, whose leaves had the power to heal wounds) is decorated with a magnificent cycle of frescoes depicting scenes from the life of St. Benedict, painted in the 16th century by Antonio Solario, known as the Zingaro (the gypsy).