Sansevero Chapel (Museo Cappella Sansevero)

A visit to Sansevero Chapel is essential to understanding Naples’ baroque and religious art. You can visit the chapel on walking tours of the historic center, or get a broader view on art tours that stop at Sansevero on the way to San Domenico Maggiore and Santa Chiara churches. If you’re interested in Naples’ mysterious side, try “mystic” or “esoteric” tours that uncover the chapel’s layered history and stop at other spooky spots, such as Poor Soul’s Church.

• Sansevero Chapel is a must-visit if only to see the Veiled Christ sculpture.

• Unlike at other chapels, entrance to Sansevero is paid.

• Avoid lines by purchasing advance tickets on the chapel website—especially during the Feast of San Gennaro in September.

• The chapel is difficult to find even with a map, but locals usually show the way.

• Most of the the chapel is accessible to wheelchair users, but visiting the underground chamber requires descending a 19th-century spiral staircase.

Sansevero Chapel is located in the western reaches of Naples’ historic center, at the intersection of Via Francesco de Sanctis and Via Raimondo de Sangro di Sansevero. To reach the chapel by public transit, take Metro Line 1 to Dante station and head east on Via Port’Alba. Pass underneath the Port’Alba Gate, continue on Via San Pietro a Maiella, and turn right on Via Raimondo di Sangro. Museo station (Metro Line 1) is also nearby.

The chapel is open from 9am to 7pm Wednesday through Monday. During peak travel periods and religious holidays and festivals, lines can be interminable, often snaking around the building. The last entrance of the day is at 6:30pm.

Raimondo di Sangro, a prince, alchemist, and inventor credited with reconstructing the chapel in the 18th century, commissioned the creation of apparently preserved human circulatory systems displayed in the underground chamber. Legend has it that the arteries were preserved by injecting a “hardening” substance into Raimondo’s unsuspecting servants, including a pregnant woman. While it turns out they’re probably made of beeswax, their authenticity is still debated—and the anatomical machines, as they’re called, are a striking sight.