San Giovanni a Mare ( ''St. John at Sea'') is a church in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy; located near the docks, not far from the church of

Sant'Eligio Maggiore Sant’Eligio Maggiore is a church in Naples, southern Italy. It is located near Piazza Mercato (Market Square), and was built during the reign of Charles of Anjou by the same congregation that built the nearby Sant’Eligio hospital in 1270. It ...

. The Romanesque church was erected by Benedictine monks before the 12th century. By the 13th century, the church was attached to a hostel of the knightly order of ''Gerosolimitani'' ("

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

"). For some time, the church too belonged to the knights. The hostel was closed by Napoleonic forces, but was returned to the Church in 1828. The church building has been recently restored. Interior columns are

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...

. Arabic and Byzantine influences can be seen in some of the apse columns. Other arches in the dome recall architecture of

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

Donna Marianna: the ''Head of Naples''

In the atrium is a copy of an ancient Greek bust; the original is currently in the Palazzo San Giacomo. Now referred to as ''Donna Marianna'' or the ''Head ("Testa") of Naples'', it was once found in the Piazza del Mercato ("Plaza of the Marketplace"). The bust was most likely once part of a sculpture depicting the Greek mythological

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

Parthenope, associated with the story of

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...

, and specifically associated with the craggy cliffs and islands in the

Bay of Naples A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. Over time the pagan bust became a symbol of the city, and paradoxically found itself protected inside a church. It was damaged and threatened with destruction during the periods after the Neapolitan Republic of 1647 and of 1799. In the latter period the bust came to be associated with '' Marianne'' the symbol of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

Bibliography

*''Napoli sacra: guida alle chiese della città'', coordinamento scientifico di Nicola Spinosa; a cura di Gemma Cautela, Leonardo Di Mauro, Renato Ruotolo, Napoli 1993-1997, 15 fascicoli. {{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni a Mare Naples Former churches in Naples 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy