Sant'Orsola a Chiaia (also called Sant'Orsola dei Mercedari Spagnoli, or the Parish church of Santa Maria della Mercede a Chiaia) is a church in largo Sant'Orsola in the quartieri of Chiaia 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. Originally, this was the site of a small 16th-century chapel endowed by the Spaniard Annibale de Troyanis y Mortella and dedicated to

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little in ...

. In 1569 it was donated to fathers of the ''Order of Santa Maria della Mercede'', who in 1576 demolished the chapel to build a new convent. The church was reconstructed. In 1875, the cloister that held the tombs of the monks was demolished and the Teatro Sannazaro was built instead. The convent held Mercedari priests till 1923. In the 19th century, the reconstruction added frescoes in the arches of the nave and ceiling, depicting ''Stories of the Virgin'' (1851) and ''Redemption of Captives'' (1852) by G. Gravante. In the transept are two canvases by unknown 16th-century artists.

Bibliography

*Vincenzo Regina, ''Le chiese di Napoli. Viaggio indimenticabile attraverso la storia artistica, architettonica, letteraria, civile e spirituale della Napoli sacra'', Newton e Compton editore, 2004.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsola a Chiaia Naples Roman Catholic churches in Naples 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1576