Gesù Nuovo

Gesù Nuovo tickets: which one to buy

The Gesu Nuovo stands on the square of the same name at the western entrance to the historic centre of Naples, opposite the church of Santa Chiara and a few minutes from the start of Spaccanapoli, and it is free to enter. Almost every walking tour of the old centre starts here or passes through the square, because the facade is one of the images of the city and a natural meeting point.

Tours of Naples underground and of the historic churches usually include it along with Santa Chiara's majolica cloister, which charges admission, and the Sansevero chapel, which requires advance booking. The church is busy with local worshippers, particularly at the chapel of Giuseppe Moscati, and visitors are expected to be discreet. Nothing needs booking for the church itself. The square is also a good place to sit, with cafes and a tall baroque monument at its centre. The Moscati rooms have a separate small entrance at the side of the church.

Visiting Gesù Nuovo: what to see

The building began as a palace, not a church. In 1470 the Sanseverino princes built a residence here with a front of grey stone cut into projecting diamond points, an unusual and rather aggressive texture. When the Jesuits bought the palace in the 1580s they converted it into a church and kept the diamond-point facade, adding a portal; the result is a church that looks from the square like a fortress.

Inside, the contrast is complete: a vast baroque interior of coloured marble, gilding and frescoes, including a huge fresco of Heliodorus driven from the Temple by Francesco Solimena over the entrance. The dome was rebuilt after earthquake damage. A side chapel is dedicated to Saint Giuseppe Moscati, a Neapolitan doctor who treated the poor and was canonised in 1987; its walls are covered with silver ex-votos of hearts, limbs and organs, and a reconstruction of his rooms is displayed nearby. The marble floor inlaid in coloured patterns dates from the eighteenth century and covers the whole nave.

Gesù Nuovo opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open through the day with a break in the early afternoon, and closes during services. Mornings are good, when the light falls on the square and the church is used by local parishioners. Naples is busy all year and particularly at weekends, and the historic centre becomes crowded in the evening. August is very hot and many businesses close for a week or two around the middle of the month.

The feast of San Gennaro in September and the Christmas crib season in December bring large crowds to the old centre. The cloister of Santa Chiara is directly across the square and makes the natural next stop. Allow half an hour for the church, and leave time to look closely at the diamond-point stones, some of which carry mysterious carved marks. The monument in the square, a tall stone spire to the Virgin, was raised in the 1740s by public subscription.