Naples - Palazzo Saluzza di Corigliano

A palace on the San Domenico square that was entirely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1688. For some reason I did not get a good picture of it. Though I did capture the beauty of one of the ground floor windows with an inspirational quote applied in paint to enliven our progress through the city.

It was even in English.

Inspirational Writing in Naples on the Palazzo Saluzza di Corigliano

Naples - San Domenico Plague Column

San Domenico Spire

In the square in front of San Domenico Maggiore is the San Domenico Spire. Sometimes referred to as the plague obelisk, though there is more than one plague obelisk in Naples.  Built over a period of 70 years beginning in 1658, it refers to the plague of 1656. I read that it commemorates St. Domenico who interceded on behalf of Naples by being miraculous and performing the miracle of making the plague go away by brining a freak snowstorm to town.

The carving is rather restrained, only four giant crowned cartouches and four cherubs. Only four cherubs? No idea how the designer could live with himself with only four cherubs. The shaft of the obelisk has bas relief grotesques and the whole ensemble is topped off with a bronze statue of San Domenico doing Dominican things. 

It makes quite a spectacular exclamation mark along the Via Benedetto Croce, which we continued to traverse on our way to the Piazzetta del Nilo. Which is just as it sounds, the little Nile Piazza

Naples - San Domenico Maggiore

San Domenico Maggiore

San Domenico Maggiore- The exterior has an almost Moorish, southern Spain look to it. The sun bleached brick with tiny windows and the trefoil crenellations add to the illusion. The interior is quite elaborate but in the gothic manner rather than the fanciful baroque that abounds in most Naples churches. This is due to a restoration project in the 19th century to remove the baroque decoration and return the church to its Gothic austerity. Which in Neapolitan terms means lots of gilt pointy arches and marble clustered columns, golden capitals and a coffered ceiling with a profusion of carving and indeed more gilt.

There has been a church and monastery on this site for a very long time. In the 13th century it was handed over to the Dominican monks and after a while they decided they were in need of a bigger church. The result you see before you was completed in 1324.

Once the attached monastery was the seat of the ever migratory University of Naples and Thomas Aquinas taught theology here from 1272 until he began his deadly journey to the Council of Lyon in 1274.