San Nicola alla Carità, Naples

Church of St. Nicholas the Charitable
Chiesa di San Nicola alla Carità
The façade of church.
Coordinates: 40°50′44″N 14°14′56″E / 40.845426°N 14.248962°E / 40.845426; 14.248962
Location	Via Toledo Naples Province of Naples, Campania
Country	Italy
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Architecture
Status	Active
Architectural type	Church
Style	Baroque architecture
Groundbreaking	1647
Completed	1682
Administration
Diocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples

The church of St. Nicholas the Charitable (it: Chiesa di San Nicola alla Carità) is a church located on via Toledo, almost midway between Piazza Carità and Piazza Dante in Naples, Italy.

The church was founded in 1647, thanks to a donation of about 6000 ducats to the Pious Workers by a nobleman of the time, as a reward for their welfare work. The building of the church, designed by Antonio Gisolfi Onofrio, was interrupted by the plague that struck the city in 1656, and was completed in 1682 by Cosimo Fanzago, who worked under the patronage of Cardinal Diego Innico Caracciolo di Martina. The church underwent various reconstructions. In eighteenth century the facade was rebuilt by Salvatore Gandolfo, following designs of Francesco Solimena. During the ten years of French occupation, the church was deconsecrated and it housed a Corps of Engineers. In 1843 the structure was restored by Guglielmo Turi.

The Church houses the bodies of the Neapolitan painter, Bernardo Cavallino, and father Antonio Torres, who, with the order of Piarists, distinguished themselves in service to the ill from the plague of 1656. All members of the Order of the Pious Workers died from contact with the infected, except four monks, including Father Antonio. Each year during the Christmas period, visitors can see the Presepes, belonging to the church, in a room under the building.

The layout is a Latin cross, with three aisles, and side chapels. The nave has a series of frescoes (1696) by Francesco Solimena, depicting in the lunettes the life of St. Nicholas, Virtue and the Apostles. He also painted a Sermon of St. Paul and St. John the Baptist (1697). Paolo De Matteis painted a San Nicola expels Demons from a Tree (1712), which adorns the entrance of the church, and Death of St. Nicholas (1707), which sits behind the altar. The high altar made from polychrome marbles, arranged in 1743 by Antonio Troccola and designed by Mario Gioffredo. The dome was frescoed by Francesco De Mura.