Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità
The Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità is a 17th-century Baroque church in the Rione Sanità district of Naples.
About this building
The church was built between 1602 and 1610. The central dome was completed in 1613 and the bell tower in 1614. It is considered one of the main exponents of Neapolitan Baroque together with the Church of the Girolamini, the Cloister of the Certosa di San Martino, the Basilic of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Pizzofalcone, and the Treasury Chapel in Naples Cathedral. The catacomb of San Gaudioso, which dates from the 4th century A.C. is located under the basilica.
The Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità is also known among locals as the church of San Vincenzo 'O Munacone (St. Vincent the Big Monk) as it houses a famous statue of Saint Vincent Ferrer. According to popular tradition, the saint stopped a cholera epidemic in 1836. Its statue is still brought in procession every 1st of July.
It Houses the Presepe Favoloso, a nativity scene created in 2021 by renowned Neapolitan artisans the Scuotto brothers. One of the chapels of the Basilica preserves the oldest fresco (4th-5th century) depicting the Madonna in Naples.
