Santa Maria di Caravaggio

The Church of Santa Maria di Caravaggio is a Baroque Catholic church located on Piazza Dante, in Naples, Italy.

Construction was begun in 1627 under the patronage of Felice Pignella, and dedicated to the Holy Mary of Caravaggio, a small town in the Province of Bergamo. This attribution of Mary recalls an apparition of the Virgin in 1432. The church was first attached to the Piarists, a religious order dedicated to teaching, and later to the Barnabites. In 1873, it became property of the Prince of Naples Institute for Blind Children (Italian: Instituto Principe di Napoli per giovani non vedenti). The architect who helped complete the work was Giovan Battista Nauclerio. The dome was restored in 1846 by Michele Stellati. 40.850066°N 14.249632°E / 40.850066; 14.249632

The façade of Santa Maria di Caravaggio

Interior

The main altarpiece contains a painting entitled The Birth of Mary, painted by Gaetano Gigante. The chapels to the right have paintings of St Joseph by Francesco Solimena, an anonymous Madonna della Provvidenza, and a Deposition by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. The chapels on the left have a Sant'Antonio Zaccaria, by Luigi Scorrano; the tomb of the Barnabite priest, St. Francis Xavier Bianchi, and a painting depicting the apparition of the Virgin to peasants in Caravaggio. Other works in the church were completed by Errico Giovine and Giuseppe Bonolis.[1]