Strongly characterised by the Baroque style, the
Church of the Gesł Nuovo, situated in the square of the same name, was built
between the end of the 16thcentury and the beginning of the
17th by Giuseppe Valeriano on the site of the Palazzo dei Sanseverino.
The church follows a Greek cross plan and consists of nave and aisles of unequal
length.
The typical diamond-pointed rusticated faēade, by Novello da San Lucano,
belonged to the Sanseverino Palace.
The construction of the church was financed by the Princess of Bisignano.
The interior is marked by the great use made of marble polychrome, and the
floor, also made of marble, merits equal attention.
There are some notable works of art by Cosimo Fanzago (Saints), Luca
Giordano (Stories of St. Francis Xavier) and Francesco Solimena (Heliodorusdriven from the temple) see photo.
The Chapel of St. Anne is particularly interesting with its 64 wooden
reliquary busts of saints.
The church contains the relics of San Giuseppe Moscati, the doctor from
Benevento who practised in Naples at the beginning of the 20th
century and who has recently been honoured with sainthood because his
devotion to the patients and to the poor.
In the Chapel of St. Francesco Geronimo there are many relics in gold
carved wood. There is also a big Chapel dedicated to St. Ignazio di Loyola
founder of the Society of Jesus.
Very fine and impressive is the Sacristy with an important portal of
Cosimo Fanzago; covered by wooden cabinets of the 18th century and
frescos by Aniello Falcone.