Church of ‘Santa Maria la Nova’

The congress will be hosted in a former church of great historical and artistic value. The Church is called “new” (“La Nova”), distinguishing it from the old church ‘Santa Maria ad Palatium’, and was probably founded by St. Francis. It was built during the Swabian period (1194-1266), when  Charles I of Angiò decided to build the ‘Maschio Angioino” castle. In order to build this castle,  the older church was demolished, but Charles I, on the 10^th of May 1279, gifted to the friars the site, near an ancient tower built to guard the port, where the Church of ‘Santa Maria la Nova’ was built. Construction started in 1279; the church was built in the Gothic style. Three centuries after its construction, the church was almost completely destroyed due to a series of catastrophic events including earthquakes and, most importantly, the explosion of Castle St. Elmo’s armoury, which was struck by lightning on the 13^th of December 1587. The church was rebuilt in 1596, and numerous artists from the Baroque period contributed to its decoration; the altar designed by Cosimo Fanzago and the frescoes painted by Massimo Stanzione and Luca Giordano are well renowned. The historical convent has two cloisters; the small one hosts some ancient gravestones and paintings representing the life of St. Giacomo della Marca, as well as several Sepulchers, including one hypothetically attributed to Vlad III, alias Count Dracula. From this small cloister the visitor can reach the Sacristy and the Ancient Refectory, which hosts a beautiful fresco (a Calvary scene) painted by Bramantino.