Church of San Pietro a Majella

The Church of San Pietro a Majella, located in the heart of Naples, is an emblem of the city’s Gothic architecture. Founded at the end of the 13th century on the initiative of Giovanni Pipino da Barletta, by the will of King Charles II of Naples, it stands on a site where two female monasteries dedicated to Sant’Eufemia and Sant’Agata were previously located. Dedicated to San Pietro Celestino, also known as Celestino V, the church takes its name from the hermitage of the saint on the Maiella, an Abruzzo mountain. The original construction of the church reflected the Gothic canons of the time, characterized by slender lines and pointed arches. However, over the centuries, the structure underwent numerous expansion and restoration interventions that have modified both its external and internal appearance. Between 1319 and 1341, during the reign of Robert of Anjou and Andrew of Hungary, significant changes were made, including moving the facade forward and adding six side chapels. The exterior of the church is characterized by a piperno facade, with a rose window and a staircase leading to a marble baroque entrance portal. The bell tower, built at the beginning of the 14th century, is an example of Provençal Gothic architecture and is 42 meters high. The bell tower is divided into four floors, with the top hexagonal one topped by a spire. Inside, the church has a three-nave plan, separated by pillars supporting Gothic arches, with ten side chapels and four presbyteries. The central nave is characterized by a coffered ceiling decorated with paintings by Mattia Preti, depicting episodes from the life of San Pietro Celestino and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. These paintings, created between 1657 and 1673, represent one of the highlights of Italian painting of the seventeenth century. The main altar, designed by Cosimo Fanzago, is decorated with silver candlesticks and large vases, and is preceded by a balustrade in polychrome marbles. Above the altar rises a wooden crucifix from the fifteenth century, while in the rear tribune there is an inlaid wooden choir from the first half of the sixteenth century. The side chapels house a series of valuable works of art. Among these, the Stinga Chapel stands out, with paintings by Girolamo Cenatiempo and Aragonese maiolica flooring, and the Spinelli-Raetano Chapel, with funerary monuments and paintings by Giacomo del Pò. The Leonessa Chapel, located in the apse, preserves fourteenth-century frescoes by an anonymous artist known as the Master of the Leonessa Chapel. The adjacent monastery complex to the church has housed the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella since 1826, born from the merger of four pre-existing Neapolitan conservatories. This institute is one of the most prestigious music conservatories in Italy and houses a library with a collection of musical manuscripts and opera librettos, as well as a museum displaying historical instruments and portraits of famous musicians linked to the Neapolitan school. The church and monastery of San Pietro a Majella have undergone numerous restorations over the centuries. Particularly significant was the intervention between 1888 and 1927, which aimed to restore the original Gothic appearance of the building. Currently, the church is undergoing complex restoration works funded by European funds from the UNESCO Project for the historic center of Naples.