San Domenico Maggiore, Naples

Church of San Domenico Maggiore
Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore
The Church of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples (apse area).
Coordinates: 40°50′55″N 14°15′16″E / 40.848731°N 14.254407°E / 40.848731; 14.254407
Location	Piazza San Domenico Maggiore Naples Province of Naples, Campania
Country	Italy
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Architecture
Status	Active
Architectural type	Gothic architecture, Baroque architecture
Groundbreaking	1283
Completed	1324
Administration
Diocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples

San Domenico Maggiore is a church in Naples, southern Italy, founded by the friars of the Dominican Order, located in the square of the same name.

The square is bordered by a street/alleyway popularly called "Spaccanapoli" (presently labeled via Benedetto Croce at this particular section of its considerable length) in the historic center of Naples. It was one of the three main east-west streets of the original Greek city of Neapolis. To the east along Spaccanapoli, one reaches in a few blocks the Piazza of Gesu Nuovo and Santa Chiara.

The Church of San Domenico Maggiore incorporates a smaller, original church built on this site in the 10th century, San Michele Arcangelo a Morfisa.

Charles II of Naples began the rebuilding that produced the new Church of San Domenico Maggiore. The work was done between 1283 and 1324, but the church has undergone modifications over the centuries, including one in 1670 that recast the structure in the style of the Baroque. In the 19th century, however, the church was restored to its original Gothic design.

The monastery annexed to the church has been the home of prominent names in the history of religion and philosophy. It was the original seat of the University of Naples, where Thomas Aquinas, a former member of the Dominican community there, returned to teach theology in 1272. Sacristan Domenic of Caserta claimed to have seen Aquinas levitating in prayer with tears before an icon of the crucified Christ in the Chapel of Saint Nicholas after Matins on December 6, 1273. Domenic reported that Christ said to Thomas, "You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?" and Thomas responded, "Nothing but you Lord."

The philosopher friar and heretic, Giordano Bruno, also lived here at some point.

In the center of the square is an obelisk— one of three "plague columns" in Naples—topped by a statue of Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order, erected after the plague of 1656. The original designer of the spire was the Neapolitan architect Cosimo Fanzago. Construction on the spire was started after the plague of 1656 and was finally finished in 1737 under Charles III, the first Bourbon monarch of Naples.