In 1325, the Charterhouse of San Martino in Naples was founded, with the chosen architects being the Sienese sculptor Tino di Camaino and the Neapolitan Francesco De Vito.
Over five centuries, the Charterhouse of San Martino underwent continuous renovations. In 1581, a major expansion project began, entrusted to architect Giovanni Antonio Dosio, aimed at transforming its austere Gothic style into what we now admire as a refined Baroque masterpiece.
The growing number of monks made a complete renovation of the Main Cloister necessary: new cells were added and the entire water system was overhauled. Driving this remarkable transformation was Prior Severo Turboli, at the helm from the late 16th century until 1607. The works initiated under Dosio were continued by Giovan Giacomo di Conforto, who designed the monumental cistern in the cloister.
From 1623, architect Cosimo Fanzago joined the San Martino construction site, a collaboration that would continue, with ups and downs, until 1656. While preserving Dosio’s original Tuscan Renaissance approach, Fanzago left a personal and forceful mark on every corner of the monastery.
He soon became responsible for the entire site and decided to keep working with the same painters, sculptors, and artisans who had previously collaborated with Dosio and Conforto. The project to expand and modernize the monastery’s monumental areas moved forward, with interventions in the church, annexed rooms, and the apartments of the Prior and Vicar. Fanzago’s work stands out for its extraordinary decorative style, transforming traditional geometric patterns into vibrant motifs of foliage, fruit, and stylized scrolls, with color and volume effects that bring exceptional realism and sensuality. Thus, in the 1620s and 1630s, the Charterhouse of San Martino became a center of artistic experimentation for Baroque ornamentation.
In the following years, work was directed by Bonaventura Presti—who designed the magnificent church floor—the royal engineer and architect Andrea Canale, and, around 1723, his son Nicola Tagliacozzi Canale. Known as an engraver and scenographer, Nicola contributed to the intense creative expression of the Rococo period, blending painting, sculpture, and architecture in perfect harmony.
During the 1799 revolution, the complex was damaged and occupied by French troops. The king ordered the suppression of the monastery for suspected republican sympathies among the monks, but eventually allowed their return in 1804.
When the last monks left the Charterhouse of San Martino, the complex was taken over by the military in 1812 as a House for War Invalids until 1831, when urgent restoration work forced its abandonment. In 1836, a small group of monks returned but eventually left for good.
After the suppression of religious orders, the Charterhouse of San Martino became State property and was transformed into a museum in 1866 by order of Giuseppe Fiorelli, annexed to the National Museum as a branch and opened to the public in 1867.
A visit to the Charterhouse and Museum of San Martino includes: the Church, the Monks’ Pharmacy, the Naval Section, the Prior’s Quarters, the Nativity Section, 19th-century Naples, Images and Memories, the Drawings and Prints Cabinet, the Theater Section, the Decorative Arts Section, the Museum of the Charterhouse, and the Gothic Underground.
The Charterhouse and Museum of San Martino are located at Largo San Martino, 5, 80129 Naples. Phone: 081.2294502.
Opening Hours Charterhouse and Museum of San Martino, Naples
- Open daily 8:30 am–7:30 pm (closed Wednesdays)
- Ticket office closes one hour before closing
Sections with scheduled opening times:
10:30 am: Certosine itinerary (Museum of the Charterhouse’s Works and extension of the Prior’s Quarters)
11:30 am: Theater section
12:30 pm: Historical itinerary – Images and Memories of the City and Kingdom
3:30 pm: City views itinerary – 19th-century Naples and Alisio Collection
4:30 pm: Historical itinerary – Images and Memories of the City and Kingdom
Ticket Prices Charterhouse and Museum of San Martino, Naples
- Full price: €6.00
- Reduced: €3.00
- Admission price and hours may change during temporary exhibitions
- Free: EU citizens under 18
- Free: first Sunday of each month
