Welcome to the site Napoliforme

The main place of worship to the patron saint of Naples is the sumptuous Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro in the Neapolitan cathedral, built by the Deputation of San Gennaro after the saint's miraculous intervention in 1527 to curb a dreaded plague epidemic. Once the emergency had passed, work began around 1600 and proceeded rapidly with the help of the whole city, and the chapel was opened to the faithful (1646). The chapel is one of the most important examples of Baroque art in Naples. Between two monumental statues of St Peter and St Paul by Giuliano Finelli is the brass gate designed by Cosimo Fanzago and completed in 1665. The interior is illuminated by the brilliance of the silver decorations and the colours of the frescoes and copper paintings on the side altars, set in gilded bronze and lapis lazuli frames, which tell stories of the Saint's life and miracles, works by Domenichino and Jusepe de Ribera (San Gennaro comes out of the furnace unharmed); the decoration of the dome by Giovanni Lanfranco (Paradise); the silver of the busts of the co-patrons, thuribles, candelabra, candlesticks, cherubs and the antependium of the high altar by Giovan Domenico Vinaccia, depicting The Translation of the Relics from Montevergine to Naples. Behind the altar, the saint's relics are kept.The chapel is the indescribable setting for the devotion to San Gennaro, which reaches its peak on the days of the melting of the blood, in the Cathedral on 19 September and in the church of Santa Chiara on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May. And the speed with which the prodigy occurs is considered by Neapolitans to be a good omen for the future.