Following the destructive earthquake in the Naples area in 1980, many ancient churches in the city were closed because of fear of structural damage. One particular church with a fascinating history was among those shuttered and abandoned. Located in the very center of the original city, this church, which will remain unnamed for reasons of security, has a long and mysterious history. It stands where a large private palace once stood in the 17th century. A noble Marquise owned the palace, and had decided to move to a newer part of Naples. A religious order bought his palace for 600 Ducats in 1601, and converted it to a small chapel and convent. Historians and archeologists knew that the elaborately decorated church was built incorporating parts of a grand old private palace, beneath which a private burial catacomb had been used dating at least to the mid 1500's. In 1640 the religious order acquired an adjoining palace and an atrium between the two buildings. An elaborate Rococo church was constructed over the site of the private underground cemetery. For the next three hundred years the elaborately decorated church and convent used the old cemetery for burial of clergy and members of the order.
After the earthquake of 1980 the church, like hundreds of other ancient buildings in Naples, suffered structural cracking and damage. The church was closed and abandoned. Pieces of the ornate facade and exterior began to crack off and plummet to the narrow street below creating a public hazard. Priceless paintings and ornamentation had been removed from the church and placed in museums and stop-gap measures were taken to shore up the exterior the church. The once famous church and convent with its mysterious underground burial chambers faded from memory as the once glorious structure faded into the background melding with the facades of the other centuries old buildings on the street.
