San Paolo Maggiore
| Basilica of San Paolo Maggiore Basilica di San Paolo Maggiore (Italian) |
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Façade.
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Naples, Campania, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 40°51′05″N 14°15′25″E / 40.851440°N 14.256830°ECoordinates: 40°51′05″N 14°15′25″E / 40.851440°N 14.256830°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| District | Archdiocese of Naples |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Minor basilica |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
San Paolo Maggiore is a basilica church in Naples, southern Italy, and the burial place of Gaetano Thiene, known as Saint Cajetan, founder of the Order of Clerics Regular (or Theatines). It is located on Piazza Gaetano, about 1-2 blocks north of Via dei Tribunali.
The Baroque style church is located on the site of the 1st-century temple of the Dioscuri. The church was built upon the ruins of that temple. The church occupied the area behind the temple's pronaos. The front section of the latter, including six columns and triangular tympanum, was visible until 1688, when it was destroyed by an earthquake. The current church includes two corinthian columns from the ancient edifice. They stand awkwardly in front, linked by a fragile beam projecting from the facade. The church erected here in the 8th-9th century was dedicated to St. Paul to celebrate a victory in 574 of the Duchy of Naples against pillaging Saracens.
In 1538, the building was ceded to St Cajetan and his order of Theatines. Cajetan had been in Naples for six years working on building his order. The Theatine priest and architect Francesco Grimaldi designed the adjacent house for the order. In the early 1580s, general reconstruction of the church began with the erection of the transept and the polygonal apse. This was followed by the nave built by Gian Battista Cavagni. The aisles, designed by Giovan Giacomo di Conforto date from 1625 onwards. As the building was proceeding, it was decorated and embellished, notably by Massimo Stanzione who painted the nave ceiling with a series of canvases depicting events in the life of St Paul. On the occasion of the canonization of the Order's founder, St. Cajetan, Dionisio Lazzaro, unsuccessfully connected the façade with the temple's columns with a wall, causing the building to crumble in 1688.
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