Casa Professa dei Padri Gesuiti, Baroque religious building in Naples, Italy

Casa Professa dei Padri Gesuiti stands at the corner of Via Benedetto Croce and Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, on the site of the 16th-century Palazzo Feltre della Rovere. A piperno portal facing the Santa Chiara entrance arch opens into a vestibule occupying part of the Jesuit cloister; inside are a marble portal and a grand staircase of honour leading to the library.

Construction of the Casa Professa began in 1608, on the site of the 16th-century Palazzo Feltre della Rovere, to a project by the architect Agazio Stoia; the Jesuits had settled in the nearby Palazzo Sanseverino in 1584. The refectory was built from 1665 to 1680, and the library was begun in 1685 and finished only in 1750 by Antonio Sarnelli. In 1860 Garibaldi expelled the Jesuits and confiscated the property, and the first teacher training institute was founded in the building, named after Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca in 1923.

The library completed in 1750 by Antonio Sarnelli is the building's cultural centrepiece: its frescoes show Saint Ignatius of Loyola beside Church Doctors such as Gregory the Great, Ambrose, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Jerome, Basil and Gregory of Nyssa. Look for the inlaid polychrome marble floor, the carved wooden cabinets rising to the vault lunettes, and the balustrade with plant motifs and medallions of illustrious men.

The building is located in central Naples and is easily reached on foot. Guided tours are available that explain the architecture, religious significance, and the history of the Jesuit community at this site.

The library completed in 1750 by Antonio Sarnelli has a marble inlay floor and carved wooden cabinets rising to the vault lunettes. A finely inlaid balustrade runs around it, set with medallions bearing profiles of illustrious men, a detail easily missed from below.