Napoli - Battistero di San Giovanni in Fonte

Napoli is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy. Its metropolitan area has a population of more than 3 million.

Founded by Greek settlers before 900 BC, Napoli was an important part of Magna Graecia and played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society.

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire Napoli was shortly ruled by the Ostrogoths. Byzantine troops captured the city in 536m but after the Byzantine exarchate Ravenna fell a Duchy of Naples was created. Over centuries the Duchy´s relations to Rome or Byzanz were hard-fought. In 836 Napoli could repel a siege of Lombard troops with the help of the Saracens, what did not prevent Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas in the 850s loot Napoli. In the 11th century, the Duchy hired Norman mercenaries and about 1140 it came under Norman control under Roger II, then King of Sicily.

In 1228 Emperor Frederick II founded the first university in Europe here, making Napoli the intellectual centre of the kingdom. The conflict between the House of Hohenstaufen and the Papacy led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning the Angevin duke Charles I King of Sicily. Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Napoli.

In 1282 after the "Sicilian Vespers", a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily against the rule of King Charles I, the Kingdom of Sicily was divided into two. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.

By the 17th century, Naples had become Europe's second-largest city – second only to Paris – with around 250000 inhabitants.


The present Duomo di Napoli, commissioned by King Charles I of Anjou and completed in the early 14th century, stands on the foundations of two early Christian basilicas. One of these dates back to the first decades of the 4th century it was partially preserved. This is the Basilica di Santa Restituta, that got incorporated into the large complex of the Duomo.

The foundation of the Basilica di Santa Restituta is attributed to Emperor Constantine in the 4th century and was much larger. Within the 8th century, it had five naves, an own facade with a portal for each of the naves. With the construction of the current cathedral, the basilica lost the external facade and was reduced in size. So it became a kind of large side chapel of the new cathedral.

A door at the end of basilica´s right aisle opens to the Battistero di San Giovanni in Fonte, which is considered the oldest baptistery in the West. It was built between 364 and 410. The baptismal font is in the middle of the room. It is large enough for baptism by immersion, which was usually done during that time. The original decoration with mosaics from the 4th century is partially preserved.