San Gregorio Armeno ("St. Gregory the Armenian") is a church and a monastery in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy. It is one of the most important

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

complexes in Naples. The church is located on a street of the same name just south of

Via dei Tribunali Via dei Tribunali is a street in the old historic center of Naples, Italy. It was the main ''decumanus'' or Decumano Maggiore — that is, the main east-west street — of the ancient Greek and then Roman city of Neapolis, paralleled to the sou ...

and a few blocks south of the church of

San Paolo Maggiore, Naples San Paolo Maggiore is a basilica church (building), church in Naples, southern Italy, and the burial place of Saint Cajetan, founder of the Theatines. It is located on Piazza Gaetano, about 1-2 blocks north of Via dei Tribunali (Naples), Via dei ...

History

Chiesa di San Gregorio Armeno - Interno navata

In the 8th century, the

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

decrees in Greece caused a number of religious orders to flee the Byzantine empire and seek refuge elsewhere. San Gregorio Armeno in Naples was built in the 16th century over the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Ceres, by a group of nuns escaping from the Byzantine Empire with the relics of St. Gregory, bishop of Armenia. During the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

domination the monastery was united to that of the Salvatore and San Pantaleone, assuming the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

rule. The construction of the church was begun in 1574, using designs by Giovanni Battista Cavagni, and consecrated five years later. A later consecration dates to 1674, and refurbishment to 1762.Le chiese di Napoli
Volume 1, by Luigi Catalani, Naples (1845): page 99. The façade has three arcades surmounted by four pilaster strips in

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

. The interior has a single nave with five side arcades: the decoration, with the exception of the five chapels, was finished by

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

(also author of the ''Saints'' over the windows of the dome) in 1679. Bernardino Lama, likely the son of

Giovanni Bernardo Lama Giovanni Bernardo Lama (1508–1579) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Naples. He was the son of a generally unknown artist, Matteo Lama. He was the apprentice of Giovanni Antonio D’Amato, then Polidoro da Ca ...

, was author of the altarpiece. The interior houses also the famous Holy Staircase, used by the nuns during their penitences. The cupola was painted with a ''Glory of San Gregorio'' by Luca Giordano. The ceiling ''cassettoni'' or framed canvases depict the ''Life of the St Gregorio Armeno'' and were commissioned by the abbess Beatrice Carafa from the Flemish

Teodoro d'Errico Dirck Hendricksz (Amsterdam, 1544 – Amsterdam, 1618) was a Dutch-Italian painter. In Italy he was known as Teodoro d'Errico or Dirk Hendrici. He was engaged in painting mainly altarpieces and for churches in Naples from 1574 to 1606. Although bo ...

. On the right, the altarpieces include an ''Annunciation of Mary'' by

Pacecco De Rosa Pacecco De Rosa (byname of Giovanni Francesco De Rosa; 17 December 1607 - 1656) was an Italian painter, active in Naples. Biography He was a contemporary of Massimo Stanzione or, according to others, a pupil of him. De Rosa was influenced by his ...

, a ''Virgin of the Rosary'' by

Nicola Malinconico Nicola Malinconico (1663–1721) was a Neapolitan painter of the late-Baroque. He is described as a follower of Luca Giordano, and painted mostly religious canvases. He painted the chapel altarpieces for the church of St Michele Arcangelo in Anac ...

, and frescoes by

Francesco Di Maria Francesco di Maria (1623–1690) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Naples. He was a pupil of the painter Domenichino. Maria was an early mentor of Francesco Solimena, Giacomo del Pò, and Paolo de Matteis Paolo de ...

. On the left, is a ''St. Benedict'' altarpiece by

Spagnoletto Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...

. The main altar was designed by

Dionisio Lazzari Dionisio Lazzari (17 October 1617 – 9 August 1689) was an Italian sculptor and architect. He was born in Naples in 1617, the son of Jacopo Lazzari and Caterina Papini. Jacopo was born in Florence, and his and Dionisio's work shows Tuscan i ...

, and has an altarpiece depicting the ''Resurrection'' by

. The Idria Chapel houses eighteen paintings by

Paolo De Matteis Paolo de Matteis (also known as ''Paolo de' Matteis''; 9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728) was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter. Biography He was born in Piano Vetrale, a hamlet of Orria, in the current Province of Salerno, and died ...

, portraying the ''Life of Mary''. Over the chapel's high altar is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

icon, in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

style, of the ''Madonna dell'Idria''. The main attraction is the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

(1580). In the centre is a marble fountain, decorated with dolphins and other marine creatures, with the statues of "Christ and the Samaritan Woman", by

Matteo Bottiglieri Matteo Bottiglieri (1684–1757) was an Italian sculptor and painter from Naples. One of his first works is a marble "Dead Christ" (1724), in the crypt of the Capua Cathedral, perhaps executed after drawings by Francesco Solimena. In 1733 he exec ...

Bibliography

References

External links

San Gregorio Armeno Church in Naples
Aztag Daily, 2023 {{Authority control Roman Catholic churches completed in 1579 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1687 Gregorio Armeno 1579 establishments in Italy Religious organizations established in the 1570s Christian monasteries established in the 16th century Baroque architecture in Naples 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 1687 establishments in Italy