Sant'Agnello Maggiore

Sant'Agnello Maggiore, also called Sant'Aniello a Caponapoli, is a church in the historical centre of Naples built above the ancient Greek double curtain city walls of Neapolis dating to the 4th century BC. Excavations from 1979 revealed sections of these Greek fortifications and 2nd-century AD Roman walls within the nave, now visible through protective glass walkways. Located at the highest point of the ancient city, the church is traditionally the burial site of Saint Agnello, the 6th-century bishop and co-patron of Naples. Severely bombed in 1943, the church was left in ruins for decades before restoration by the Superintendency and collaborative reopening by the Archiepiscopal Curia and Legambiente Campania. The marble high altar by Girolamo Santacroce (c.1524) survived the destruction.