Catacombe di San Gennaro
Napoli (NA)
KnownSacred art
The story
In the Sanità district open two levels of frescoed galleries where San Gennaro was buried, the largest catacomba in the South carved into the yellow tufo (volcanic tuff).
Access
€ ~9-10, guided tour, online · 2026, to be reconfirmed
The story
The Catacombs of San Gennaro, carved into the tuff of the Capodimonte hill, are the most important early-Christian monument of Naples. Born in the second–third century around the tomb of a Roman family, they grew as a Christian cemetery; here Saint Agrippinus, first patron of the city, was venerated, and here the remains of San Gennaro were transferred, which made them a place of pilgrimage.
What to see
Wide spaces on two levels, with arcosolia, early-Christian frescoes and mosaics among the oldest in the South: from the first Christian portraits to the depictions of San Gennaro. The visit, guided, crosses centuries of history of underground and Christian Naples.
Tips
It is visited only with a guide: check hours and meeting point on the official channels (the visits are run by a social enterprise of the Rione Sanità). Underground it is cool: bring something warmer. To be combined with the Rione Sanità and its churches.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Catacombs of San Gennaro?
Ancient Christian cemetery areas carved into the tuff of Naples, of the second–third century: the most important early-Christian monument of the city, tied to the cult of San Gennaro.
How do you visit the Catacombs of San Gennaro?
With guided tours; it is best to check hours and meeting point on the official channels.
Who is buried in the Catacombs of San Gennaro?
Saint Agrippinus, first patron of Naples, was venerated there, and the remains of San Gennaro were transferred there.
This page may contain affiliate links: if you book through them, the site earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. Trasparenza
More gems in Napoli
Sacred artCappella Sansevero (Cristo Velato)
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.
Sacred artDuomo di Napoli
Napoli
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
Napoli
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.
Sacred artChiesa del Gesù Nuovo
Napoli
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.
Sacred artChiostro di Santa Chiara
Napoli
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.
◆ Sacred artChiesa di Santa Luciella ai Librai (teschio con le orecchie)
Napoli
In the crypt of a small church rediscovered in the maze of the Librai rests the skull with ears, which the faithful believed could listen to their prayers.
More gems: Sacred art
Sacred artSanta Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco
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.
Sacred artPio Monte della Misericordia
Via Tribunali
Above the altar of an octagonal church still hangs, exactly where Caravaggio painted it, his Sette opere di Misericordia: a single canvas holding all the charity in the world.
Sacred artSan Gregorio Armeno
Napoli
The street of the presepe (nativity scene) masters, where terracotta shepherds are shaped all year round and the alley smells of glue and wood beneath Baroque bell towers.
◆ Sacred artSant'Anna dei Lombardi
via Toledo
Eight terracotta figures mourn the dead Christ with faces of piercing grief, while in the sacristy frescoed by Vasari the ceiling fills with constellations and virtues.
◆ Sacred artSan Giovanni a Carbonara
Napoli
A double forceps-shaped flight of stairs leads up to the church, inside which the monumental tomb of King Ladislao rises like a tower of marble.
- ◆ Sacred art
Complesso dei Girolamini
Napoli
Beyond the white facade open one of the oldest libraries in Naples and a silent picture gallery, among wooden shelves and canvases hung by the Oratorian fathers.