Monastero di Santa Maria la Nova

The Convent of Santa Maria La Nova stands in the historical centre of the city of Nola.
The plateau of 1651, preserved in the Diocesan Historical Archives of Nola, is the richest documentary source for reconstructing the vicissitudes of the religious complex.

History

In 1521, Sister Francesca Sussolana, who belonged to a noble family from Nola, had a new convent built on the site of the old church. The complex grew over the centuries, through direct purchases and donations of land in the immediate vicinity, and underwent numerous renovations and transformations. Originally, the monastery had a quadrangular layout on three levels, with a fenestrated inner cloister bordered by a corridor that, on the west side, presented the staircase for access to the upper floors. The cloister had a central basin and a series of adjoining rooms with service functions: cisterns, henhouse, granary. On the north-west side of via Ambrogio Leone there was the belvedere tower with a gate; high walls surrounded the two gardens of the complex. The Clausura wall to the north enclosed a second convent garden on Vicolo I Ranieri.
Adjacent was the nuns' hospice with a small internal garden, which was incorporated into the rest of the building in 1846, together with another building that was probably used as a reception. In the corridor on the ground floor was the first refectory, while the second was on the first floor. The kitchens with ovens and hearths may have been attached to the refectories.
The first and second floors were divided into several rooms opening onto two corridors with windows and balconies. The dormitory, in particular, was on the second floor, with openings overlooking the cloister.