Chiesa di San Giovanni in Corte (Church of St John in the Courtyard)

The first record of a place of worship dedicated to St John in that area is found in a document from the year 923, which attests to its existence, sited a foris sub muro publico regioni Portenobensis. The specification "in corte" ("in the courtyard") was probably due to a pre-existing curtis, and was later kept to distinguish it from the subsequent church of San Giovanni a Mare (St John at the Sea).

The Chiesa di San Giovanni in Corte (Church of St John in the Courtyard) is a church in Naples, located on via San Giovanni in Corte.

History

In the years that followed, the dukes of Naples Giovanni and Sergio donated the church to the Benedictine order; it remained the property of the abbey of Cava de' Tirreni until the end of the fifteenth century, when Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, in his capacity as commendatory abbot of Cava, transferred it to the diocese of Naples. Several works of rebuilding and enlargement date back to that period, and probably also its new dedication.

At the end of the nineteenth century, as part of the Risanamento (urban renewal) plan, the complex was reduced in size to make way for a new street, and was given a new façade.

The church is the seat of the parish of Sant'Arcangelo agli Armieri (St Michael the Archangel at the Armourers').

The title of Sant'Arcangelo agli Armieri belonged to two historic buildings: the first, which stood on the old via degli Armieri (Armourers' Street), erased by the Risanamento (the site of the church can be identified in the middle of the carriageway of corso Umberto), and not far from San Giovanni in Corte, was part of an ancient Benedictine monastery and had already been deconsecrated by the time of the late-nineteenth-century works; indeed the church, already noted in 1872 by Galante as lacking artistic elements of value, was not included in the list of religious buildings to be demolished and was treated as an ordinary building.

The second church arose precisely as a result of the Risanamento: built in neo-Gothic style, it stood on via Carlo Troya, very close to via Marina, and was the seat of the Congregation dedicated to the archangel. It was hit by bombing during the Second World War and was demolished in the 1970s.

Description

The building has a single nave with a barrel-vaulted ceiling; six chapels, three on each side, open onto the nave through round arches set on pillars. The lower part of the façade is rusticated, while the upper part features four pilasters and a pediment with a moulded cornice and a decorated tympanum. The portal, dating from 1738, is particularly notable.

The interior once housed numerous works of art, in particular a tavola di Ognissanti (All Saints panel) from 1455 and the Baroque altarpiece of the high altar, depicting the Madonna coi santi Ippolito e Cassiano (Madonna with Saints Hippolytus and Cassian), from the school of Francesco Solimena.

The church, situated near the parish of Sant'Eligio Maggiore, has recently undergone restoration.