Country Italy Status Active Province Province of Naples Groundbreaking 1411 | Denomination Roman Catholic Phone +39 081 551 3333 Architectural type Church | |
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Location Piazza Monteoliveto
Naples
Province of Naples, Campania Address Piazza Monteoliveto, 4, 80134 Napoli, Italy Diocese Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples Architectural styles Renaissance architecture, Gothic architecture Similar San Giovanni a Carbonara, Gesù Nuovo, San Domenico Maggiore, San Paolo Maggiore, Pio Monte della Misericordia | ||
Capolavori dimenticati la chiesa di sant anna dei lombardi a napoli
Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, (Italian St. Anne of the Lombards), and also known as Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, is an ancient church and convent in located in Piazza Monteoliveto in central Naples, Italy. Across Monteoliveto street from the Fountain in the square is the Renaissance palace of Orsini di Gravina.
Contents
- Capolavori dimenticati la chiesa di sant anna dei lombardi a napoli
- Sant anna dei lombardi
- Description
- Right side
- Left
- References
The church was originally built in 1411 by Gurello Orilia, protonotary of the king Ladislas of Durazzo, who sponsored the construction of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, as it was first called. The church was sited near the Palazzo Carafa di Maddaloni. It was entrusted to the Benedictine order of Olivetans, whose mother house is Monte Oliveto Abbey in Tuscany. The convent received extensive patronage from Alfonso I of Aragon and members of his court. Further reconstructions of the church took place in 1581 by Domenico Fontana. In the 17th century, the church and convent were reconstructed in a Baroque style by Gaetano Sacco.
In 1798, King Ferdinand I removed the Olivetan order from the convent and church. The lay Arch-Confraternity of Lombardi moved into the church of Monte Oliveto, which soon was renamed Sant'Anna dei Lombardi; the name was changed because the confraternity in 1798 had lost their own nearby church which had been dedicated to Sant'Anna. In 1805, the church collapsed in large part due to a recent earthquake. This collapse destroyed three Caravaggio paintings that once stood in the church: St Francis in Meditation, St Francis Receives Stigmata and a Resurrection;
The entire complex was at one time one of the largest monasteries in Italy, occupying what today can be measured only in "city blocks". Urban renewal from the 1930s literally built around the old premises, leaving much of the original structure standing in the center. For example, the gigantic main post office in Naples is at west end of the old monastery and the older edifice was simply incorporated into the back of the Naples Central Post Office such that the monastery seems to flow out of the more modern building. At the east end, the church, itself, is still in use, but the adjacent monastery premise and courtyard are now a Carabinieri (Italian national police force) barracks.
Sant anna dei lombardi
Description
The church was rebuilt by Fontana in a late Renaissance style. The architect Benedetto da Majano helped design and decorate the Piccolomini and Correale Chapels. The church decoration and structure reflects the 17th century and later reconstructions, which now obscure the original Gothic architecture.
Among its decorated interiors are the 16th century sanctuary which contains sculpture by Guido Mazzoni, Antonio Rossellino, Benedetto da Majano, Giovanni da Nola, Pedro Rubiales and others. Gothic details are still preserved in the tomb of Domenico Fontana, and the altar was executed on the design of Giovan Domenico Vinaccia by Bartolomeo and Pietro Ghetti.
At the mouth of the piazza in front of the church, is the Fontana di Monteoliveto (Fountain of Monteoliveto). It was commissioned by Pedro Antonio de Aragón from the architect Cosimo Fanzago, and completed in 1699. Atop stands a bronze statue of Charles II of Spain.