Reviews Osteria S. Anna Al Porto

La confraternita di S. Anna al porto recentemente ha messo in atto tante bellissime iniziative per promuovere e far conoscere l'antichissima chiesa di S. Anna al porto, conservarne il patrimonio culturale ed artistico, e divulgarne il culto non solo tra gli abitanti del quartiere. Complimenti!

The convent is located in the place called "Porto Salvo", where the church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo, known as Sant'Anna al Porto, is also located. The church, dating back to the 13th century, is flanked by the monastic complex dependent on the Badia di Cava. The complex was located outside the city walls, to the west, towards the marina. The place has undergone extensive transformations over the centuries. In 1544 following the assault by the Turks, the church suffered such devastation that no trace remains of the original complex. It was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century with an octagonal plan. and with this configuration it appears in the engraving of the frontispiece by Fabrizio Pinfo in 1653 next to the writing "Porto Salvo". The foundation of the adjoining convent of the Discalced Carmelites took place in 1682, therefore it was much later than that of the church in question. The convent expanded over time to include, within its own walls, the church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo. In a map from the early 18th century, the ark of the convent of Santa Teresa appears, as Via S.Teresa, the connection point on the mainland of the port of Salerno. The convent was occupied by French troops and finally definitively closed in 1808. Then between 1817 and 1837 it was used for military use and transformed into barracks. Today it is home to the Carabinieri barracks. The church of Santa Teresa has become the pivot of the entire convent structure. Four long corridors develop around its octagon. Only one, the southern one (which at the time was in direct contact with the sea), longer than the others, creates a projecting body. And it is precisely in the direction of this body that the access to the former convent opens. The entrance forms, with the larger projecting body, a space which is then the cloister of the convent. Along the internal front, overlooking the courtyard, there is a loggia which still exists today, as a connecting element between the open space of the cloister and the closed one facing the sea (today the southern front borders other buildings). The church, rebuilt in the 16th century, and perhaps enlarged in the 17th, has a central plan with semicircular chapels that develop along the sides, and is surmounted by a dome. The entrance is via a rectangular vestibule. In 1849, the image and cult of Sant'Anna, much venerated by sailors from Salerno, which was located in the complex of San Pietro a Corte, was moved there. This is the reason why the ancient church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo became Sant'Anna al Porto, a title still preserved today.