Church of Gesù Nuovo
Giuseppe Valeriano · Naples, Italy · 1584
Gesù Nuovo is one of Naples’ most striking examples of architectural transformation. Its exterior preserves the diamond-rusticated façade of a fifteenth-century palace, while the interior was converted into a richly decorated Jesuit church. This sharp contrast between austere, almost defensive urban skin and exuberant Baroque interior is central to the building’s architectural power. The church also shapes one of the city’s most important public spaces, Piazza del Gesù Nuovo, where religious, civic, and academic institutions overlap. It is a strong ArchiAtlas entry because it makes visible a recurring Neapolitan condition: buildings are not replaced cleanly, but reoccupied, reinterpreted, and intensified across centuries.