The church of San Severo al Pendino is a monumental church in Naples, currently deconsecrated and used as an exhibition space.
The church was founded in 1448 with the adjacent hospital by Pietro Caracciolo, abbot of the nearby church of San Giorgio Maggiore; the original name was that of Santa Maria a Selice.
In 1550 it was granted to the Dominicans who in 1587 bought the nearby Palazzo Como to use it as a convent. Between 1599 and 1620 the church was demolished and rebuilt according to a design by Giovan Giacomo Di Conforto, who gave the building a late Mannerist appearance. Later, it was remodeled in the first half of the 18th century in the Baroque style; moreover, it was characterized by a fine staircase with a finely sculpted piperno balustrade (this is visible in the early 19th century prints by D'Ambra).
The interior with the dome
In 1818 the structure was used as the first seat of the State Archives, then, with the return of the religious, the complex was rebuilt in 1845 by Filippo Botta; however, in 1863 the religious were suppressed and after ten years the rear part of the building was reused as a Retreat of the Ecce Homo.
With the works in via Duomo, the church was deprived of the Baroque façade and the first two chapels, reducing the length of the nave and replacing the façade with a simpler one in Neo-Renaissance style. During the Second World War it was used as an air-raid shelter, while it was damaged by the 1980 earthquake.
The tomb of Giovanni Alfonso Bisvallo
Fifty years after the end of the war, the temple has been restored to its former glory, bringing the structure back to its original architecture; the property has been restored by the Superintendency of Environmental and Architectural Heritage. However, the church has lost its function as a place of worship; it has in fact been deconsecrated and is periodically used for exhibitions and conferences of various kinds.
San Severo al Pendino complex
Address: Via Duomo, 286, 80138
Phone: 3273463882
Site:
http://www.chiesadinapoli.it/Location inserted by
Gina Affinito