Chiesa di santa Marta

A church linked to the Angevin court

The foundation of the church is traditionally connected to Margherita di Durazzo, an important figure in Angevin Naples, who is said to have commissioned it as an act of devotion to Saint Martha. Local historical sources place its foundation around 1400 and connect the church with the Confraternity of the Disciplinati of Santa Marta.

This aristocratic origin gives Santa Marta a distinctive identity: it is not a grand monumental basilica, but an intimate space where devotion, power, nobility and urban life meet.

The Codex of Santa Marta

One of the most fascinating elements linked to the church is the Codex of Santa Marta, now preserved at the State Archives of Naples. According to the Italian Ministry of Culture, the codex contains coats of arms of kings, queens and numerous nobles who belonged, between 1400 and 1600, to the Collegium Disciplinatorum Sanctae Marthae, the confraternity based in the church.

The codex is more than a heraldic document: it is a valuable testimony to the political, artistic and aristocratic history of Naples between the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

Fire, reconstruction and transformation

The history of Santa Marta also includes dramatic events. During the 1647 uprisings connected to Masaniello’s revolt, the church suffered fire and looting; the codex, however, survived while kept by the sacristan.

In the following centuries, the building underwent several transformations. Its façade still preserves late Gothic and Catalan-inspired elements, while the interior reflects later changes between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.

A small artistic treasure

Inside, the church preserves artistic traces connected to the devotion to Saint Martha and to the Neapolitan pictorial tradition. Among the documented works, the official cultural heritage catalogue records a painting titled Santa Marta, dated 1670 and attributed to Andrea Vaccaro.

Its charm lies not in immediate grandeur, but in the density of history, art and devotion concentrated in a small and quiet space.

Curiosities to discover

• The church stands in one of the most vibrant areas of the historic center, close to Santa Chiara and Spaccanapoli.
• The cult of Saint Martha also evokes a symbolic connection with Provence, where the saint is especially venerated.
• The Codex of Santa Marta is an important document for understanding confraternities, nobility and power in historic Naples.
• The façade preserves late Gothic and Catalan-inspired elements, rare and precious within the city’s historic fabric.

A quieter Naples

Visiting Santa Marta means slowing down. It is one of those places that does not immediately reveal itself, but rewards attentive visitors.

In one of the busiest parts of Naples, the Church of Santa Marta tells a quiet yet powerful story — one of devotion, aristocratic memory, fire, reconstruction and hidden beauty.

ADDRESS: Via San Sebastiano, 42 (angolo Via Benedetto Croce), 80134 Napoli (NA)