The door
Porta San Gennaro, known from sources since 928, is the oldest gate in the city of Naples. It is located in front of Piazza Cavour and is incorporated into a subsequent building complex.
The dedication to San Gennaro is due to the fact that it is from this door that the only road outside the city that led to the catacombs of the Saint developed.
La "Door of the tuff" is the other name that was attributed to it as it is from this door that the large blocks of tuff extracted from the quarries of the Sanità valley were placed in the city.
Following several movements, the current position was defined in the 1537, operated by the will of Don Pedro of Toledo.
THEfrescoed aedicule it is due to Mattia Preti, to whom it was commissioned as ex voto to avert the plague epidemic that broke out in the 1656 with the representation of San Gennaro, Santa Rosalia and San Francesco Saverio.
Il stone bust of San Gaetanoinstead, it dates back to the 1659 and was placed at the wish of the Theatine fathers.
La Virgin inside the niche it was built in the 1887 as ex voto for the escaped cholera epidemic of the 1884.
Information about Porta San Gennaro
How to get:
- Address: Via Foria, 12 - in front of Piazza Cavour - 80138 Naples
- Metro line L1: Museo station | Metro line L2: Cavour station | Bus 203: stop Foria - Duomo
