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Image credits: Claudia Carletti (c) High Jewellery Dream.
Last July, I was in Naples and visited the treasure of San Gennaro, the world’s most ancient, untouched religious treasury.
The treasury boasts 7 centuries of history and 22,000 goldsmith’s works, silver, cloth, wooden artefacts, and paintings. Not even Napoleon Bonaparte dared touch it!
The treasury of San Gennaro originated in 1305, when Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples, decided to celebrate the 1000 years since the birth of the Saint by donating a bust of the Saint that is carried in procession to this day.
A bit of history
The official year of the treasury’s birth is 1527, when Naples, hit by the plague and French and Spanish troops, asked for help from San Gennaro—help that promptly arrived, liberating the city from all evil. This is the origin of the Neapolitans’ profound devotion to San Gennaro.
In this article, you can see two masterpieces I shot during my visit: the silver, gold and precious stones necklace, created by Michele Dato in 1679 and enriched until 1925, when the last queen of Italy, Maria José of Savoia, donated a ring.
The second masterpiece is the Mitre, created by Matteo Teglia in 1713. It is made of gilded silver and has 3,694 gems—3,328 diamonds for the strength of faith, 168 rubies for the Saint’s blood, 198 emeralds for knowledge, and two garnets.
All the artefacts in the treasury come from donations made over time by kings, popes, important people, and devotees worldwide.
Fun fact: the treasury belongs entirely to the people of Naples, thanks to a contract formalised in the XVI century (the infamous year 1527) between the City of Naples and the Saint!
USEFUL INFO: if you happen to be in Naples and want to admire this fantastic treasure, this is the link to the official website to book your tickets: https://tesorosangennaro.it/en/home-en/