Chiesa di Santa Luciella ai Librai (teschio con le orecchie)
Napoli
Hidden gemSacred art
The story
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.
Access
€ association-led visits
The story
Santa Luciella ai Librai is a small fourteenth-century church in the heart of the old centre, near San Gregorio Armeno, long tied to the guild of the booksellers. Beneath it opens a hypogeum where in the past the 'scolatura' (draining) of the bodies was practised and where the popular cult of the 'anime pezzentelle' took root, the adoption of the skulls of the dead in exchange for protection.
What to see
The little Gothic church, with the piperno portal and the fourteenth-century coats of arms, and the hypogeum with its history of devotion. Here is kept the famous 'skull with ears', a skull with a particular bone conformation that popular tradition believed capable of hearing prayers better.
Tips
The church, long abandoned after the 1980 earthquake, was recovered by the Respiriamo Arte association and reopened in 2019: it is visited with its own hours and arrangements, often with a guided tour, to be checked on the official site. It is a place of memory and devotion: visit it with respect, without seeking the thrill.
Frequently asked questions
What is the church of Santa Luciella?
A small fourteenth-century church of the booksellers, in the old centre of Naples, with a hypogeum tied to the cult of the anime pezzentelle; it was recovered and reopened in 2019.
What is the 'skull with ears'?
A skull kept in the hypogeum, with a bone conformation that resembles ears: popular devotion believed it capable of hearing prayers better. It should be looked at as an object of devotion, not as a macabre curiosity.
How do you visit Santa Luciella?
With its own hours and arrangements, often with a guided tour by the association that recovered it: it is best to check on the official site.
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