Basiliche paleocristiane di Cimitile
Cimitile (NA)
Hidden gemSacred art
The story
Around the tomb of Saint Felix, a rare complex of early Christian basilicas layered over the centuries preserves mosaics and frescoes, the memory of Paulinus' Christian Nola.
Access
With Antiquarium, check opening times
The story
The early-Christian basilicas of Cimitile are one of the most important and ancient Christian complexes of the West: seven buildings grown around the tomb of San Felice, buried here at the end of the third century. In the fourth century San Paolino of Nola withdrew there, renouncing his riches, and made of the tomb a great sanctuary of pilgrimage.
What to see
A unique weave of basilicas and chapels of different ages — from the Basilica Vetus to the Nova of San Paolino, up to the medieval churches — superimposed over the centuries, with early-Christian and medieval frescoes and ancient structures resurfaced from the excavations. A book of stone on the origins of Christianity.
Tips
The complex is visited with its own entrance and hours, often with a guided tour: check on the official channels. You are in the Nola area, handy to combine with Nola. A secluded place, of great historical and spiritual value.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basilicas of Cimitile?
One of the oldest Christian complexes of the West: seven buildings arisen around the tomb of San Felice (third century) and developed by San Paolino of Nola, with early-Christian and medieval frescoes.
Who was San Paolino?
A wealthy noble who in the fourth century converted, renounced his goods and withdrew to Cimitile, making the tomb of San Felice a great sanctuary of pilgrimage.
How do you visit them?
With their own entrance and hours, often with a guided tour: it is best to check on the official channels; they are in the Nola area.
More gems: Sacred art
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Napoli (NA)
Beneath a veil of marble that still seems to breathe, Sanmartino's Cristo Velato rests in the chapel's half-light, and the whiteness of the stone deceives every eye.
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Three times a year the city holds its breath as the blood of San Gennaro waits to liquefy, among Gothic naves and the gold of the chapel devoted to him.
Sacred artCappella del Tesoro di San Gennaro
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Behind a bronze gate lie silverware, gems and the jewel-studded mitre of the saint: a treasure heaped up over centuries by the devotion of Naples.
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The facade of pyramid-cut piperno stone hides symbols carved into the blocks, while inside the Baroque bursts out in marble and in the memory of the physician Giuseppe Moscati.
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A garden of pillars clad in yellow and blue majolica, where lemon pergolas and eighteenth-century scenes painted on the tiles keep the noise of the city at bay.
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Via Tribunali 39
Bronze skulls stand guard at the entrance, and down in the hypogeum the cult of the anime pezzentelle (adopted souls of the dead) still leaves flowers and prayers beside abandoned crania.