Complesso Monumentale di Santa Chiara

The Complesso Monumentale di Santa Chiara on Via Santa Chiara 49/c in the Centro Storico of Naples, Campania, is a royal monastery and basilica founded by the Angevin king Robert of Anjou and his wife Sancia of Majorca. Built between 1310 and 1340 in a Provençal Gothic style, the basilica has a single wide nave with side chapels and served as the burial place of the Angevin dynasty, with monumental royal tombs including that of Robert the Wise behind the high altar. The church was originally decorated with frescoes attributed to Giotto and his workshop, but these were lost over time. In the 18th century the interior was covered with Baroque stucco and decoration. On 4 August 1943 Allied bombing set fire to the basilica and destroyed much of the Baroque interior and the roof. Restoration completed in the early 1950s returned the church to its austere Gothic form, revealing the original structure and surviving fragments. The most celebrated part of the complex is the cloister of the Clarisses, remodelled in 1739-42 by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. A garden of orange trees is laid out between rows of octagonal pillars and benches covered in painted majolica tiles by Donato and Giuseppe Massa, showing rural scenes, mythology and daily life. The surrounding walls carry frescoes. The complex also contains a small museum with Roman remains found under the monastery, including a thermal complex from the first centuries of the empire, together with sculptures, liturgical objects and fragments recovered after the war damage. The visit is mostly self-guided and passes from the Gothic church to the majolica cloister and the museum, giving a view of both medieval and baroque Naples.