San Giovanni Battista delle Monache, Naples, Baroque church in Via Costantinopoli, Naples, Italy.
San Giovanni Battista delle Monache is a Baroque church on Via Costantinopoli in Naples, designed with a Latin cross layout and lateral chapels. These chapels contain paintings by influential Neapolitan artists from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Francesco Antonio Picchiatti designed this church between 1673 and 1681, with Giovan Battista Nauclerio adding the facade in the 18th century. An earthquake in 1930 caused significant damage and led to decades of neglect before restoration work finally began in 1970.
The adjacent cloister of San Giovanniello became the Naples Academy of Fine Arts during the 19th century when the city was being redesigned. This transformation shows how religious spaces were repurposed to meet the city's cultural needs.
The building has been closed since 2011 for extensive restoration work, with all movable interior decorations removed for protection. Visitors should be aware that the interior is currently not accessible and restoration efforts remain ongoing.
The facade was added by a different architect than the one who designed the main structure, creating an interesting mix of design periods. This split authorship across several decades is unusual for churches of this era.
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