The first thing you notice about the church, before you even enter its doors, are the pyramid shaped ashlar stones covering the entire front wall. This Jesuit church has a facade unlike any other in Naples.
It wasn't until 2010, the art historian Vincenzo De Pasquale along with Hungarian musicologists Csar Dors and Lòrnt Réz, worked out that the pointed stones have symbols carved into them. Seven letters, ten cm tall, of the Aramaic alphabet (the language spoken by Jesus) correspond to musical notes for plectrum instruments. (a stringed instrument that is plucked or strummed). If the composition is read from right to left and from bottom to top, it lasts for three quarters of an hour, and is entitled “Enigma”.
Gesù Nuovo means “New Jesus." the church was constructed by the Jesuits from 1584 to 1601. A palace had previously been built on this site in 1470 for Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno
Once you step inside the church, the dazzling interior is in stark contrast with the severe outside. Polychrome marble covers the walls of this Greek cross plan with three naves. There are eleven side chapels with altars, each as amazing as the other.
Throughout the centuries, the work of craftsman and artists such as carvers, painters, stonemasons and plasterers have blended together and added to each other to be an incredible sight, all dedicated to the glory of Jesus and his holy family.
The high altar at the front of the church was completed in 1854. in the center of which stands the colossal statue of the Virgin, which rests on a large globe of blue color and is surrounded by six columns of alabaster, work by Antonio Busciolano. The latter was a pupil of Tito Angelini and author of numerous sculptures in the churches and squares of Naples.
The tomb of Doctor Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927) is in one of the side chapels. There is a bronze statue of him next to the altar. The hands of the statue are shiny from the repeated rubbing of the bronze by the faithful. As I stood admiring this chapel, various people came up and kissed his hand, they also slipped pieces of paper under the hand near his chest. A lady nearby told me the story, that they do this to ask for help of the doctor for sick friends and relatives. They believe it will help.
The doctor was made a saint on 25 October 1987. His study was only a hundred metres from the Basilica and he spent hours praying here each morning before starting his healing work. The doctor was celibate all his life and never charged the poor for his services. There are also photos and personal objects of the doctor on display.
Looking at other chapels in the church, and apart from the statues, and paintings, altars and tombs, there is one chapel that has a very interesting sculpture on both the left and right hand walls. This 3D work of art looks like singers in a heavenly choir.