Esoteric and Alchemical Naples

The Church of the New Jesus sits behind a facade of dark, diamond-shaped stone blocks, salvaged from a fifteenth-century palace. Inside, the walls disappear under a dense, gilded riot of baroque marble and frescoed ceilings. Originally…

Palazzo Penne is easily picked out by the rows of stone feathers carved into its ashlar facade. Built in fourteen oh six for Antonio Penne, a high-ranking secretary to King Ladislao, it stands as a rare Renaissance survivor in this part of…

The center of Piazza San Domenico Maggiore holds a tall, marble spire topped with a bronze statue of Saint Dominic. This monument dates to the mid seventeenth century, commissioned by the people of Naples to thank the saint for sparing the…

The Obelisco di San Domenico rises in the center of the piazza, topped by a bronze statue of Saint Dominic. Its base sits on a pedestal carved with reliefs, while the shaft is adorned with marble coats of arms. Construction began in…

The Palazzo di Sangro features a jagged, heavy rustication of dark volcanic tuff that looms over the street. This residence became the center of a peculiar legend after Prince Raimondo di Sangro took ownership in the eighteenth century.…

The Cappella Sansevero is marked by the tall, narrow facade of a former private chapel that now sits tightly wedged between the residential buildings of the Spaccanapoli district. Inside, the Veiled Christ lies on a central plinth, carved…

The statue of the God Nile rests in the center of a small, sunken courtyard, carved as a bearded figure reclining on a sphinx with a crocodile at his feet. The local community of Egyptian merchants living in this district commissioned the…