Reopen Regina Coeli: an appeal to patrons in Naples and beyond to restore Regina Coeli to its full architectural beauty and its centuries-old vocation: art, prayer, solidarity, culture, and education.
The appeal for the restoration of Regina Coeli
“I appeal to benefactors and patrons in Naples and beyond,” said Sister Wandamaria Clerici, president of the Fondazione Opera Pia Casa Regina Coeli, in an interview with ANSA, Italy’s leading multimedia news agency. ‘We need help to continue the restoration and conservation of the church, the cloister, the refectory, and the pharmacy.’
The monumental complex of Regina Coeli is a treasure trove of enchanting works of art: the late 16th-century church with its Renaissance façade and dazzling Baroque interior, the ancient cloistered convent of the Canonichesse Lateranensi nuns, the beautiful cloister where medicinal herbs were once grown, and the historic pharmacy.
Through a sober Renaissance façade with a beautiful piperno staircase, you enter the entirely Baroque church, where you can admire the works of Massimo Stanzione, Luca Giordano, and Antonio de Dominici, the most important representatives of 17th-century Neapolitan painting and among the most influential exponents of European Baroque.
The Regina Coeli Foundation, led by the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Giovanna Antida Thouret, has already invested its own resources to ensure the safety of the building. However, new funding is now needed to complete the project.
Thanks to a major intervention, the wooden ‘cassettonato’ structure has been secured, but it is essential to continue with the conservation work, which requires additional financial resources to ensure the safety of the roof trusses and the apse of the church.
Regina Coeli: prayer, solidarity, and culture
The importance of the Church of Santa Maria Regina Coeli is not limited to its architectural beauty. In fact, Sister Wandamaria, together with Francesco Galluccio, advisor to the Foundation and promoter of cultural activities, emphasizes the intention to reopen the building not only for religious services but also to host cultural events. These events will aim to enhance all parts of the monastery, which during previous restoration work revealed precious architectural details, such as the two mullioned windows set in the wall of Vico San Gaudioso, probably dating back to the 14th century.
Currently, the Sisters of Charity of the monastery, located on the hill of the ancient ‘Caponapoli’, number 38, part of a total of 1,300 sisters present in 32 countries, and continue to carry out their evangelical mission of human, social, and cultural promotion, continuing to intertwine life of faith and civil commitment.
2026 – The bicentenary of the death in Naples of the foundress, Saint Giovanna Antida Thouret
“Next year,” recalls Sister Clerici, ”we will celebrate the bicentenary of the death of Sister Giovanna Antida Thouret, and we would like to arrive there in the best possible conditions, to reaffirm the values of education, culture, and formation of conscience that are so dear to us.”
An ambitious program that also involves the cloister, the refectory, the historic pharmacy, and the rooms of the monastery, which have already been the setting for successful Italian TV series such as Mare Fuori and Il Commissario Ricciardi.
To support the fundraising, Francesco Galluccio is organizing guided tours open to tourists and art lovers: starting with the paintings in the church, moving on to the cloister and the historic rooms that belonged to the nuns: the spectacular refectory and the noble parlour, while historical and artistic curiosities are revealed, such as images of ten popes, a well embedded in a cavity near the church and the wax ‘bambinella’ Madonna, created by the cloistered nuns of the nearby monastery of the ‘Trentatrè’. “These are assets to be shared,” observes Galluccio: preserving these wonders means not only saving a place, but also preserving the idea of a church as a ‘treasure chest’ of beauty and charity, open to anyone who wants to participate in a project of art, history, and solidarity.
The benefactors and patrons of Naples, and beyond, are invited to respond to this appeal: to restore life to a monument and, at the same time, to an ancient and still vibrant vocation of spirituality, culture, service, and education.
