Santa Donna Regina Vecchia is a church in Naples, in southern Italy. It is called Vecchia ("old") to distinguish it from the newer and adjacent church of Santa Maria Donna Regina Nuova.
The earliest mention of a church on this site is from the year 780 in a reference to the nuns of the church of San Pietro del Monte di Donna Regina. At that time, the church was quite near the old eastern city wall. The nuns were of the Basilian order and, when that order left Naples in the beginning of the 9th century, took Benedictine vows. In 1264, Pope Gregory IX gave the nuns permission to join the Franciscan order.
In 1293 a severe earthquake caused great damage to the original structure, and queen Mary of Hungary, consort of the king of Naples, Charles II of Anjou financed the construction of a new complex in Gotico Angioiano style adjacent to the old one. The newer complex is known as Santa Maria Donna Regina Nuova.[1]
- ^ All information is from Sopraintendenza per i beni artistici e culturali (1993). Napoli Sacra. Naples: Elio de Rosa.