Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore

Cell and lighting · 2020

The cell of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

In the autumn of 2017 the Cell in which Saint Thomas Aquinas lived at the Convent of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples was brought to the attention of the Association. With the approval of Fr. Francesco Ricci, prior of the Convent, the Association immediately sent its technical consultants and experts who, following a careful architectural and photographic survey, were able to assess the condition of the rooms and of the artefacts within them.

After a careful analysis of the pre-existing lighting system, it was also deemed essential to intervene by replacing it in the rooms of the cell, for the following reasons:

– Modernisation and adaptation to current technological standards

– Improvement of the enjoyment of the religious space

– Enhancement of the works of art and relics housed within it

The presence of a firm specialising in restoration during the installation of the system ensured that it was carried out and put in place with full respect for, and enhancement of, the existing artistic assets.

The Complex of San Domenico Maggiore is one of the most important monuments of Naples’ historic centre. Here Thomas Aquinas also lived and taught, one of the principal theological and philosophical pillars of the Catholic Church and a point of connection between Christianity and classical philosophy. Having arrived in Naples to study at the University, encouraged by the Dominican Giovanni di San Giuliano, Thomas Aquinas took the habit of the Order at the age of nineteen. He would return to San Domenico Maggiore twice: from 1259 to 1261 and then from September 1272, to found there a theological faculty of the order. In February 1274 he left the convent to take part in the Council of Lyon and a month later, during the journey, he died at the abbey of Fossanova. In 1605 Saint Thomas Aquinas was proclaimed the eighth patron saint of Naples.

In the cell within the Basilica where Saint Thomas Aquinas lived for more than a year, memorabilia and some relics of the Saint are currently preserved.

Giovanni Ventimiglia, full professor of philosophy at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland and considered one of the world’s leading scholars of the Saint’s thought, gave four lectures on the life and thought of Thomas Aquinas, one of the most important thinkers in the history of the West.

You can relive the experience by watching the Zoom recordings again.