The
Church of the Incoronata is on via Medina
just a few yards from Piazza
Municipio. The church gives you a good
idea of how the city has changed over the centuries.
It is the oldest church in that part of Naples,
stemming from the 14th century, and is, in fact, the
only building from that century left standing so close
to the main square. It is named in honor of the
coronation of Queen Giovanna I, which event took place
in 1352. There is some debate as to whether the church
incorporated part of an earlier building, a Hall of
Justice. In any event, beginning with the Angevins in
that century, the street level adjacent to the church
underwent a gradual building up, especially in the
early 1500s, when extensive trench and moat building
at nearby Maschio Angioino
produced vast amounts of land fill that was then used
to raise the street level. The modern road is well
above the old street level and entrance to the church.
To enter the church today, you have to go down some
steps. All other buildings on via Medina on
both sides of the street are at the higher street
level.
To add insult to
injury, the entire church became the basement for a
building constructed over it in the 1800s. There are
photographs of that hybrid piece of architecture that
show the outlines of the original arches barely visible
beneath the more modern façade. Restoration was started
in the 1920s. The building no longer functions as a
church, but is, rather, an historical monument. It was
"adopted" recently by a local school and the school
children participate in taking care of it. When the
restoration of the building was complete a few years
ago, indeed it was the school kids who ran the opening
exhibit and contributed most of the photos, sketches,
and accounts of the history of the church.
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