The Teresian Retreat: from Torre del Greco to Materdei

The Materdei quarter is rich in history and places tied to Neapolitan tradition; the name comes from the church of Santa Maria Materdei (St Mary Mother of God), of Renaissance origin. The newer part belongs to the Avvocata quarter, while the older section, ending at Via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi, belongs to the Stella quarter.

Not only a protagonist of the city's history, this quarter also played a leading role in one of Vittorio de Sica's most famous films, "L'oro di Napoli" (The Gold of Naples), with Sophia Loren playing a pizza-maker.

The Teresian Retreat

Part of Materdei's historical and cultural heritage is the Teresian Retreat of Torre del Greco, located at Salita San Raffaele 3. The Teresians — more precisely, the Carmelite Missionary Teresian Sisters — are a congregation founded in 1861 in Ciudadela, on Menorca, by the Discalced Carmelite friar Francisco Palau y Quer, inspired by the education of young people and the care of the sick.

The complex consists of a monastery and a church (the Church of the Santissima Concezione delle Teresiane, Most Holy Conception of the Teresians), built in 1794, the year in which the Teresian Sisters moved here after the eruption of Vesuvius destroyed their original convent in Torre del Greco. The Baron of Castro in Puglia, Gennaro Rossi, and his nephew Giovan Battista took the matter very much to heart and worked hard to facilitate the sisters' relocation, which was finally completed in 1804.

The two barons are indeed remembered in an inscription found at the entrance to the church that forms part of the complex. Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, it has a very simple façade with a portal topped by an entablature, flanked by two pairs of Ionic pilasters, the whole crowned by a triangular pediment.

Today

Unfortunately, both the monastery and the church are in a state of abandonment and neglect: the former, having fallen into disuse, was illegally occupied in 2009 by the CasaPound social centre (of fascist leanings), before being cleared out within a month following strong protests from other social centres.

Since 2012 it has been home to various neighbourhood associations that manage the structure, now renamed "Giardino Liberato Materdei" (Materdei Liberated Garden).