Italy Guide
Campania
Santa Chiara
Opening time: daily 8am–1pm & 4–7pm
Just past here on the left, the church of Santa Chiara is quite different, built in 1328 and completely destroyed by Allied bombs during the last war, after which it was rebuilt in its original bare Gothic austerity. There's not very much to see inside, but the medieval tombs of the Angevin monarchs at the far end are very fine and include that of Robert the Wise at the altar, showing the king in a monk's habit. And the attached convent has a cloister (entrance to the left of the church; Mon– Sat 9.30am–5.30pm, Sun 9.30am–2pm; €5) that is truly one of the gems of the city, a shady haven planted with neatly clipped box hedges, and furnished with benches and low walls covered with colourful majolica tiles depicting bucolic scenes of life outside. There's also a giant presepe or Christmas crib, and in the far corner a well-put-together museum showing bits from the church before the bombing as well as the excavated remains of a Roman bath complex outside.