Basilica di Santa Chiara, Naples

Santa Chiara is a basilica within a wider religious complex containing a monastery, royal tombs and an archaeological museum. Its Gothic character comes through in the long, spare interior, while the building’s unusual plan draws the side chapels into the main rectangular mass and omits an apse. Gagliardo Primario is identified as its architect.

Construction belongs to the period from 1313 to 1340, under Queen Sancha of Majorca and King Robert of Naples, who is buried here. The basilica stretches about 111 metres inside its walls, with a nave about 82 metres long and walls about 48 metres high. Nine chapels line each side, supporting galleries beneath the tall lancet windows.

Behind the main altar, the tomb of King Robert was sculpted by Pacio and Giovanni Bertini in 1343. The church suffered severe fire damage after the 1943 bombing, and restoration finished in 1953. Look toward the cloister’s octagonal columns and vivid majolica decoration: Domenico Antonio Vaccaro introduced this distinctive treatment in 1742. The façade opens onto Via Benedetto Croce, diagonally across from Gesù Nuovo, making the basilica easy to identify from the square.