Sant'Angelo a Nilo is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on the Decumano Inferiore (Spaccanapoli street) in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy. It stands diagonally across from

San Domenico Maggiore San Domenico Maggiore is a Gothic architecture, Gothic, Roman Catholic church and monastery, founded by the friars of the Dominican Order, and located in the square of the same name in the historic center of Naples. History The square is bord ...

in Naples. It is known for containing the monumental Renaissance-style tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci (Italian: ''Sepolcro del Cardinale Brancacci'') by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

and

Michelozzo Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (; – 7 October 1472), known mononymously as Michelozzo, was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici ...

, one of the major sculptural works in the city.

Description

The church is located in the core of the ancient Greek-Roman city: it takes its name from the Egyptian

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, which was venerated here by the Egyptian merchants. It was begun in 1385 as a chapel, dedicated to Sts. Angel and Mark, by will of cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci, whose family had a palace nearby. The current appearance dates from a 1709 rebuilding, under the direction of Arcangelo Guglielmelli. Remains of the original Catalan-Gothic structure include the main portal, with an architrave featuring angels, and a fresco in the

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

with ''The Virgin Mary and Saints Michael and Baculus with Cardinal Brancaccio'' (15th century). A

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of St. Michael from another portal has been moved in the interior. Artworks in the interior include the tomb of cardinal Brancaccio, canvasses from

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

school, a 16th-century altarpiece by the Sienese painter Marco Pino and a marble tabernacle in the sacristy. Antonio Valente, the first major keyboard composer of the Neapolitan school, was organist here in 1565–80.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Angelo a Nilo Angelo a Nilo Roman Catholic churches completed in 1709 Baroque architecture in Naples 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 1709 establishments in Italy