A Look Inside Naples' Must-See Monumental Complex of Santa Chiara
- Ben
- Aug 23
- 3 min read
If you're visiting the capital of Campania, Italy, you've absolutely got to check out the Basilica of Santa Chiara. While there were definitely other tourists when we visited (at the height of Italy's tourist season), there were not nearly enough people here for how cool it is! I don't think many people know to visit, but Santa Chiara was one of my and my friends' favorite spots in Naples.
What Is the Monumental Complex of Santa Chiara?
Just south of the Dante station in Naples' Centro Storico, the Monumental Complex of Santa Chiara was built between 1313 and 1340 by the King and Queen of Naples. It includes a church, a monastery, a cloister (which apparently is an open courtyard with covered walkways), tombs, and an archaeological museum.
Originally created in a Gothic style, the complex was decorated in a Baroque style in the 17th century, when the cloister was adorned with Majolica tiles in the Rococo style. These tin-glazed pottery tiles are vibrant in color and definitely the most exciting part of the complex to see.
Everything to See in the Cloister of Santa Chiara
Not only are these columns and benches so beautiful, but notice that the tiles extend on the border of the walkway. The rest of the walkway has red clay tiles that I kind of wish were more interesting, but if they were, we probably would not have been able to actually walk through the courtyard. (The columns and benches all have signs saying do not sit or stand or even put a bag on them... They are nearly 500 years old!)
I loved the color palette of these tiles: the light blue and yellow stand out so nicely against the walkway and the dark green iconic Italian cypress trees through the courtyard. This area reminded me of a slightly less colorful version of Barcelona's Park Güell, but I love the classic Italian look and feel of the place.
As I noted, the cloister is technically the courtyard and the protected open-air walkways that surround it. And those are not to be missed! The ceilings are painted to look carved - a style seen around a lot of the country - there's tile along the ground and interior railing, and the spaces between the gorgeous windows are all painted with portraits of different saints. I was also quite charmed by this cute fountain with hand-painted tiles in it: the close-up photo (bottom right) shows some painted with tiny fishes!
Inside the Church of Santa Chiara
Once you've seen the cloister, the church isn't all that impressive, but it is still really beautiful. There are long, skinny stained-glass windows all down the church that bring in little flecks of rainbow light. I also really love the floor in this church. As you can probably guess from the blog, yellow is my favorite color, so this floor really spoke to me.
Museum in the Complex of Santa Chiara
Finally, we took a quick peek into the museum. It's right off the backside of the cloister, and it's not too big, so it's an easy detour. (We opted not to visit the tombs after having already seen so many catacombs.) While not a must-do, I think the museum was definitely worth the visit, though. There are a lot of smaller ceramic pieces in the same style, maybe that used to be in the cloister. There is also a lot of information, if reading and learning more about the history of the complex is your thing.
How to Visit the Monumental Complex of Santa Chiara
As I said, this is a really easy walk from the Dante train station, very centrally located in the historic center of Naples. It's right off a nice road that's filled with souvenir shops, gelato places, and stalls of every variety. So while the complex won't take more than an hour, I would recommend adding an extra hour to meander down Via Benedetto Croce into the neighborhood called Pendino.
The Monumental Complex is open to visitors 9:30 am - 5 pm daily, except for Sunday when it's only open 10 am - 2 pm. At under $10 USD, I think the ticket was extremely worth it to see this beautiful pillar of Neapolitan history!
