San Domenico Maggiore

San Domenico Maggiore tickets: which one to buy

San Domenico Maggiore stands on the square of the same name on Spaccanapoli, the long straight street that cuts through the historic centre of Naples, and entry to the church is free. The sacristy, with its rows of aristocratic coffins, and the rooms associated with Saint Thomas Aquinas can be visited with a ticket, often on a guided tour, and they are the most unusual parts of the complex.

The church is a few minutes' walk from the Sansevero Chapel with its Veiled Christ, the church of Santa Chiara and the Gesu Nuovo, and walking tours of the historic centre pass through the piazza, with its baroque obelisk. Tours of Naples underground start nearby. The square is lively with cafes, including a famous pastry shop. The church entrance most used by visitors is at the back, up a flight of steps from the square. Modest dress is appreciated. The ticket desk for the sacristy and the rooms of Aquinas is inside the church, on the right.

Visiting San Domenico Maggiore: what to see

The Dominicans built the church between 1283 and 1324, on the site of an earlier church, under the patronage of the Angevin king Charles II, and it became the church of the Aragonese royal family. It was altered many times after earthquakes and fires, and its interior mixes Gothic structure with baroque and neo-Gothic decoration. Thomas Aquinas lived and taught in the convent, and his cell and a crucifix that, according to tradition, spoke to him are shown. The sacristy holds the coffins of Aragonese kings and nobles, covered with velvet and arranged on a gallery around the walls, a remarkable sight.

The church also contains the Brancaccio chapel with frescoes by Pietro Cavallini, from the early fourteenth century, and Renaissance tombs. Caravaggio's Flagellation of Christ once hung here and is now in the Capodimonte Museum. The convent was also home to Giordano Bruno, the philosopher later burned for heresy. The chapel of the Crucifix holds the thirteenth-century painted cross said to have spoken to Aquinas. The ceiling of the nave was gilded in the nineteenth century. Side chapels contain tombs of Neapolitan noble families with Renaissance sculpture.

San Domenico Maggiore opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open daily, with limited hours for the sacristy and the rooms of Saint Thomas, which are usually shown in the morning and early afternoon. Naples is busy all year, and the streets of the historic centre are crowded, especially at weekends and in the evening. Summer is hot, and the church is cool. The feast of San Gennaro in September and the Christmas season, when the nativity scene workshops of San Gregorio Armeno fill the nearby streets, bring crowds.

The Scaturchio pastry shop on the square is famous for its sfogliatelle. Allow about forty minutes for the church and sacristy, and walk to the Sansevero Chapel, a short distance away, booking tickets in advance. The obelisk of San Domenico in the square was raised after a plague in the seventeenth century and finished in 1737.