Today we make a foray into Naples in 1300, to visit a church that are actually two: the first was born between 1307 and 1316 by Queen Maria of Hungary as a monastery, and is what we now call Donnaregina Vecchia (Old Donnaregina). The second was erected in 1617 - 1626, incorporating the previous one, with the name of Santa Maria di Donnaregina, and is what we now call Donnaregina Nuova (New Donnaregina); in fact, during the restoration carried out between 1928 and 1934, the two structures were separated and to date, as we shall see, the only real access for seated warriors is that of Donnaregina Vecchia. To get there, assume that you have gotten off at the Museo station of Line 1 of the Metro (for the indications and precautions of the case, refer to our post on Line 1); taking Via Foria, we turn into Via Duomo and after a couple of hundred meters we turn left into Largo Donnaregina, and we find ourselves in front of the majestic facade of Donnaregina Nuova:
The guide will go to the ticket office to ask for the gate that closes the alley on the right of the church to be opened:
Before the gate there would be the entrance for the disabled to Donnaregina Nuova, but we refuse to consider it as such, because the chair lift, which would require the transfer from our chair with all the related problems, cannot be considered a valid solution for the majority of motion disabilities. On top of that, after getting back on your chair you continue and meet two other armchairs to overcome as many differences in height and continue the visit of what is now the Diocesan Museum of Naples. Last touch of irony: the toilets equipped for the disabled are located after the third chair!
So let's go through the gate and use these comfortable ramps to enter the Cloister of Donnaregina Vecchia:
Before entering, let's take a look from the outside at the imposing structure of the old Angevin church:
We enter, then, and immediately we have the glance of the single nave layout with the majestic pentagonal apse, equipped with large windows that make it very bright:
One of the two jewels for which it is worth visiting this church is the tomb of Queen Maria of Hungary, a masterpiece by Tino da Camaino, in which the queen is depicted both lying on the sarcophagus and kneeling in front of the Madonna:
The other jewel of Donnaregina Vecchia is the Loffredo Chapel, decorated on the outside and inside with frescoes by an unknown Giottesco:
The visit to Old Donnaregina ends here, at least as far as people in wheelchairs are concerned; if the Curia one day wanted to make an effort, with an elevator you could overcome the tiring flights of stairs that lead to the Nuns' Choir, decorated with a beautiful coffered ceiling and above all with the largest cycle of frescoes of the fourteenth century left in Naples . In this way, not only the motion disabled but also the able-bodied elderly would be facilitated; to all these people we dedicate an image of the frescoed wall of the Nuns' Choir, from which you can clearly see the damage suffered by the colors for a fire in 1390, which however did not compromise the majesty of the work:
