Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario

Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario (known also as the church of Montecalvario) is a church located on largo Montecalvario in Naples, Italy.

Church of Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Mercede a Montecalvario
Façade.
Location	Naples Province of Naples, Campania
Country	Italy
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Active
Architecture
Architectural type	Church
Style	Baroque architecture
Groundbreaking	1560
Administration
Diocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples

Interior

The church was founded in 1560, endowed by the Neapolitan aristocrat Ilaria D'Apuzzo, who donated the church to the Franciscan order. By the 1580s, the church is attached to the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. In the 17th century, the church was enlarged and provided with a monumental entrance stairwell and portico with five arches. In 1677, the church underwent Baroque interior decoration by Gennaro Schiavo. In 1808, the church was closed, and turned into barracks. The portico became a marketplace designed by Stefano Gasse. The original baroque staircase was replaced by a nondescript stairway. A decade later, the Franciscans returned to the convent and restored the church. A school has been built at the site of the former college. In 1980, a predella with a procession of the blood of San Gennaro was restored and is now kept beneath the marble main altar.