Church of Sant’Aniello a Caponapoli
The Secret Acropolis: Saint Aniello, the Saint Who Watches Over the City
There is one spot in Naples that is the origin of it all: Caponapoli, the Acropolis of ancient Neapolis, the hill where the city was born. And right here, in a silence that contrasts with the buzz of the Decumani below, lies one of the oldest churches most cherished by Neapolitans: Sant'Aniello a Caponapoli.
This is not just a church; it is the home of Saint Aniello the Abbot (Sant'Agnello), one of the city’s patron saints. Legend has it that it was founded by his parents in the 6th century, on a site that already hosted ancient cults. It is a center of devotion spanning millennia, a spiritual refuge watching over the historic center from above.
Like many churches in Naples, its ancient soul has been dressed in new splendor. The original Early Christian structure is today revealed beneath a magnificent Baroque and Rococo guise.
For centuries, the church has housed the Saint's relics and timeless masterpieces of art, such as the marble bas-relief of the Madonna with Child and the young St. John, attributed to Girolamo Santacroce, which once adorned the high altar.
Visiting Sant'Aniello a Caponapoli is not a simple stopover. It is a secular pilgrimage to the forgotten acropolis; it is seeking silence at the highest, most sacred point of the ancient city. It means discovering the history of a protector saint and admiring a beauty revealed only to those who know where to look, far from the main tourist trail.
