Naples Cathedral

In front of you is Naples Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption but known to everyone as the Duomo of San Gennaro. The Angevin kings began it at the end of the 13th century. The facade you see is much more recent: it is neo-Gothic, designed by Enrico Alvino and completed in the early 20th century.

1The city's saint

Gennaro was Bishop of Benevento and was beheaded around the year 305, during the persecutions of Christians. His relics ended up in Naples. The cathedral keeps two phials which, according to the faith of Neapolitans, contain his dried blood.

Three times a year, on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, on 19 September and on 16 December, the city waits for the blood to turn liquid. If it does not, it is taken as a bad omen.

The first documented account of the prodigy dates from 1389. The Church has never officially declared it a miracle, and science has not offered a definitive explanation.

2A pact with the saint

In 1527, amid plague and war, Neapolitans made a vow: if the saint saved them, they would build him a chapel. The Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, on the right of the nave, was built in the 17th century and is still run by a lay deputation, not by the bishop. Its treasure of jewels is considered one of the most valuable in the world.

3What to look for

• The Gothic portals from the early 15th century, built into the modern facade.
• The neo-Gothic pinnacles, typical of 19th-century taste.
• The crowds, if you come on one of the three dates of the prodigy.