St. Janoirie Cathedral

The cathedral church of Naples. It bears the name of the patron of the city and was erected in his honor. The construction of the shrine began in 1608 under Charles of Anjou on the foundations of two ancient basilicas, and was completed under his grandson Robert. The church was built in fulfillment of the vow made by the city at the end of the XVI century, having survived the threat of the plague.

The main attraction of the temple is the chapel of St. Januarius, on the design of which in the XVII century worked such masters as Domenicino, Guido Reni, Jose Ribera. In the chapel Minutolo, which is mentioned in the "Decameron", preserved paintings of the XIV century. In the temple itself there are religious paintings by Perugino and Luca Giordano.

The main relic of the cathedral is a vessel with the blood of St. Januarius, sealed more than 1,700 years ago. When it is shown to believers three times a year (on the first Saturday of May, September 19 and December 16), the blood boils and takes up the entire vessel. If a miracle does not occur, the townspeople consider it a bad sign. This was the case, for example, in 1672, when the plague in Naples killed more than 40 thousand people, and in 1976, when a powerful earthquake claimed 3,000 lives.