Religious Naples

There are a truly vast number of churches in Centro Storico. You can't really take them all in one session. Irritatingly they have the odd ceremony in them, pretending to be active organisations rather than the museums they really are.

they open mornings and early evenings so you have to pick the right spot. i decided one morning to take in a few.

But first near me in Largo del Corpo de Nilo there is this ancient monument of an old man, assumed to represent the Nile.

With so many churches the upkeep of them is a problem here just as in England This one is particularly in need of some TLC.

 San Lorenzo Maggiore is an altogether more simple but impressive place. I ignored the signs telling visitors not to come in because "we are praying" as there was only two people there, one just looking around and the other appeared to be a vagrant wanting a bit of a kip.

This is quite unlike the majority of Neapolitan churches a Gothic structure with just a scatter of monuments rather than dripping with gold and marble inlays.

 Next door is a convent with a museum and some excavations of the Roman city beneath

A chair made for display rather than comfort

Down into the excavations, afraid there is a rather yellow light, and its all a little less exciting after Pompeii and Herculaneum. This is a business district with shops and banks.

 Onto San Paulo Maggiore, perched up above street level. It was built over a Roman Temple - note the two Roman Columns on the front.

Roman column - visibly more worn than the rest of the exterior

 Here is the Duomo, Naples Cathedral. On a bit of a side street, but then all of Central Naples is very built-up and everything is sort of a side street. But its just not something you see from afar.

Off  one side of the Nave there is the Basilica of Santa Restituta and the oldest Christian site in the city. Unsurprisingly, the 5th century mosaics have suffered a bit of damage.

Gesu Nuovo is the Jesuit church. Tastelessly lavish inside but with a weird S&M exterior cladding

This one is the Church of San Nicola alla Carita. Dark and macabre.