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Church · Napoli (NA)

Church of Santa Maria della Sapienza in Naples

  • Visit: about 20 min
Pictured: Napoli · Wolfgang Moroder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · resized and cropped

17th-century Poor Clares' church on Via Costantinopoli, with a façade attributed to Cosimo Fanzago and a vault frescoed by Belisario Corenzio.

The complex was founded at the wish of Cardinal Oliviero Carafa and from 1519 housed a convent of Poor Clares, led from 1530 by Maria Carafa, sister of Pope Paul IV: both are remembered by the marble busts above the ramps leading to the portico. From 1625 the church was rebuilt by the architect Giovanni Giacomo Di Conforto together with Cosimo Fanzago, to whom the façade with its three-arched loggia in white marble and bardiglio is attributed.The single-nave interior preserves the great vault frescoed by Belisario Corenzio between 1636 and 1640, framed by rich stucco work, and a sumptuous 17th-century high altar in inlaid marble, behind which you can glimpse the nuns' choir painted by Cesare Fracanzano. The church is currently closed: we recommend admiring its fine façade from Via Costantinopoli.

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