The Church of Gesù Nuovo was built on a pre-existing building: the Renaissance palace of the San Severino family, princes of Salerno. It was purchased by the Jesuits in 1584 and renovated by Jesuit architect Giuseppe Valeriano. The result is a religious building with a Greek cross plan and a slightly elongated longitudinal arm.
Of the 15th-century palace, its very special façade was retained, formed of diamond-cut ashlars of piperno, considered unique in the southern architectural scene. The church ashlars show peculiar incisions of about ten centimetres. Only recently has the true meaning of these strange symbols been discovered. A study by Vincenzo De Pasquale, historian of Neapolitan Renaissance art, and Hungarian musicologists Csar Dors and Lorànt Réz, revealed that those signs are letters of the Aramaic alphabet, corresponding to musical notes.
Visitors will therefore find themselves in front of a majestic pentagram containing a musical melody for plectrum instruments. This composition, entitled Enigma, lasts about 45 minutes and should be read from right to left and from bottom to top.
Its interior is mainly Baroque and features rich marble decoration. Among the many works adorning this Christian temple, it is worth mentioning the masterpiece by Francesco Solimena dated 1725: the fresco on the counter façade depicting the Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The chapel of the Visitation venerates St. Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927), a doctor, researcher and university lecturer canonised by Giovanni Paolo II on 25 October 1987. Moscati used to visit the Church of Gesù Nuovo every morning before starting his day. The church houses the “holy doctor”‘s remains, his furniture, his professional and personal effects.