As soon as we cross the threshold of the magnificent Sacristy of San Domenico Maggiore, we look up! At a height of about 4-5 meters there is a hanging corridor (the passage of the dead) with 42 sarcophagi with very prestigious contents.
In these arches, arranged in two overlapping rows, are preserved the mummified bodies, in excellent condition, of royalty and nobles linked to the House of Aragon. Yes, Naples has its mummies too!
The sarcophagi, sumptuously covered with silks, brocades and other precious fabrics, were originally scattered around the Basilica; it was only at the end of the 1500s, at the behest of the King of Spain, Philip II, that they were first rearranged in the choir and then moved to the Sacristy.Among the illustrious mortal remains are King Ferrante I of Aragon, the young King Ferrante II, Queen Giovanna IV, the Duchess of Milan Isabella of Aragon and the Marquis of Pescara Francesco Ferdinando d’Avalos.
Curiosity, the funeral ark of Alfonso V the Magnanimous, founder of the Neapolitan dynasty, is empty; the body was moved in 1666 to the Spanish monastery of S. Maria di Poblet in Catalonia.
At the end of 1980 the clothes, as well as jewels and weapons, that were worn by the mummies placed in the Arche were restored and then exhibited in the nearby Hall of Sacred Furnishings. The ancient "Treasure Room" also houses the enigmatic Salvator Mundi of Leonardo’s school.
