COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE DONNAREGINA

Of the vast convent complex occupied by the Franciscan sisters from the 13th century to 1861, one 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. For instead of opting for the 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 one. The Gothic church and its frescoes have survived to this day, to the delight of art lovers!

Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova and Museo Diocesano. The visit begins with the discovery of the seventeenth-century church that borders 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 in it. The single nave, covered with 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, on the first floor, and allows one to admire numerous paintings by artists, mostly regional, and liturgical furnishings. Shows are regularly organized on Sunday before noon in the church; to attend a classical music concert or a performance of Caravaggio's living paintings in this shimmering setting is a great moment of wonder. The entrance ticket also allows you to visit the complex afterwards. An opportunity to be seized, therefore.

Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia. Its construction, in 1307, was financed by Mary of Hungary, the wife of Charles II of Anjou. The funerary monument of the Queen, sculpted by the Sienese Tino di Camaino, and supported by four Virtues, can be seen here. Below the deceased lying on a sarcophagus, the seven niches with tri-lobed arches house representations of her seven children. A marvellous medieval work, which became the Court's model of burial. The single nave of the church is surmounted on the first 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 at the church of San Domenico Maggiore. Their reddish tint is the consequence of a fire in 1390 that altered their colours. The Loffredo Chapel, also covered with frescoes, is also not to be missed.