Visit Santa Chiara historical Complex in Naples

In the core of Naples historic centre there is the beautiful Santa Chiara complex that includes the Gothic church, the monumental cloisters such as the majolica one, the museo dell’Opera (Opera Museum) and the Poor Clare nuns choir, and the Roman thermal baths site.

The Santa Chiara complex is in via Santa Chiara 49, and the entrance is near piazza del Gesù nuovo.

To reach the complex from piazza Garibaldi just take the L1 underground train and get off at piazza Dante metro stop that leads into via Toledo.

Requested by king Roberto d’Angiò, it was built during the early 1300s. Nowadays, the complesso monumentale di Santa Chiara is one of the most visited places in Naples due to its beauty and peace.

The complex includes the Gothic church, with its many side chapels and the nuns choir behind the main altar, together with the marble floor by Ferdinando Fuga and the 14th century outer bell tower.

Behind the church there is the abbey that houses the Museo dell’opera di Santa Chiara that recalls the course of the complex’s construction. Besides, there is also the Chiostro di Santa Chiara (Santa Chiara Cloister), also know as Chiostro delle Clarisse (Poor Clare Nuns Cloister) or Majolica Cloister designed by Vaccaro, the most famous one among the four monumental cloisters, with its 64 majolica pillars and the Baroque-style frescoes.

The abbey also houses a library, many different rooms, such as the one with the 18th century nativity scene and the sala di Maria Cristina (Maria Cristina’s Room) with frescoes by Giotto, and three more cloisters (San Francesco’s one, Minori’s one and Di Servizio one). A section of the abbey is dedicated to the scavi archeologici di Santa Chiara (Santa Chiara archaeological site) where a Roman thermal baths complex was found.