(map) Napoli, Campania
What does the word ‘cloister’ conjure up? Gothic arches, crepuscular gloom, secondary characters from the Twilight vampire saga around the next bend, fangs at the ready? Here’s a novelty in Naples in the heart of the old city – a sunshine cloister, majolica-tiled in exuberant style. There’s blue for the Mediterranean sky, green for the trees and yellow for the citrus fruits that grow here in abundance.
Santa Chiara was founded in 1310 by Robert of Anjou and housed both an order of nuns and minor Franciscan friars in separate buildings next to a tall gothic basilica, decorated by Giotto.
But the complex saw a major restyling in the mid 18th century when Donato & Giuseppe Massa, tile-makers extraordinary, decorated the nuns’ cloister in sumptuous colour.
Sadly much of the basilica burned in an incendiary bomb attack in 1943 and it took ten years to restore it, to gothic rather than baroque splendour. But no melancholy attaches to the beautiful cloister, where throughout the winter fruit clusters on the trees and tranquillity is balm to the soul.
-- Written by Penny Ewles-Bergeron (see bio), writer, artist, (some paintings visible here), ... finding the many good things in Naples.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Beautiful pictures!
BTW — Robert the Wise was the grandfather of Giovanna I, Queen of Naples. It was Giovanna who actually built this church up substantially and made sure all her relatives were buried here with honors. However, after she was assassinated through strangulation by the Hungarians (who were bent on taking over the Kingdom of Naples) her body was dumped in a well somewhere on these grounds near the cloister. Because she had been excommunicated by Pope Urban (due to her support of the other Pope Clemente during the great schism), even today her excommunication remains in effect and her body has yet to receive a plaque to mark it.
(You can read more about it in: The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joann I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily by Nancy Goldstone)
January 12th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Beautiful and very reminiscent of the Portugese way of decorating official buildings.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I was just there over the Holidays! What a wonderful, peaceful place; and the tiles are beautiful.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
This is very beautiful. I was there 10 years ago while visiting my cousins in Napoli. The photos are lovely.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
A beautiful and tranquil spot in the middle of bustling Naples. We loved it.
January 13th, 2010 at 1:10 am
Ciao bella!
Happy New Year! I like your note about Santa Chiara. It is a lovely place. Are the pictures taken now? With oranges, it looks nice, here we have snow and it is very cold!
Baci
Christine
January 17th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
What an incredible site. The beauty is almost to much to imagine.
Tjhank you for showing it.