Santa_Maria_della_Mercede_a_Montecalvario
Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario
Church in Campania, Italy
Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario (known also as the church of Montecalvario) is a church located on largo Montecalvario in Naples, Italy.
The church was founded in 1560,[1] endowed by the Neapolitan aristocrat Ilaria D'Apuzzo, who donated the church to the Franciscan order. By the 1580s, the church is attached to the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. In the 17th century, the church was enlarged and provided with a monumental entrance stairwell and portico with five arches. In 1677, the church underwent Baroque interior decoration[2] by Gennaro Schiavo. In 1808, the church was closed, and turned into barracks. The portico became a marketplace designed by Stefano Gasse. The original baroque staircase was replaced by a nondescript stairway. A decade later, the Franciscans returned to the convent and restored the church. A school has been built at the site of the former college. In 1980, a predella with a procession of the blood of San Gennaro was restored and is now kept beneath the marble main altar.