It will be the first of the series of jewels in the large-scale "Historic Center of Naples - UNESCO Site" project to be brought to light in a restored version; it is the Chapel of Santa Maria dei Pignatelli, a treasure trove of the Renaissance, located right in the heart of the ancient center, at Largo Corpo di Napoli, aligned along the lower decumanus of the Greco-Roman city, where Piazzetta Nilo and San Biagio dei Librai intersect. It had been closed to the public for over fifty years. By the late 1960s it had even become an illegal storage site for chairs. Today, thanks to the work of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University, which became owner of the Chapel in the 1990s following a donation from the Pignatelli family, and to European funding for the Major Project "Historic Center of Naples - UNESCO Site," entrusted to the Municipality for implementation, the Pignatelli Chapel is ready to be returned to the city. The inauguration of its second life is scheduled for Monday at 18 pm. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be attended by the rector of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Lucio d'Alessandro; the mayor, Luigi de Magistris; the Pignatelli brothers Fabio and Giovanni; the superintendent, Luciano Garella; the director of the Capodimonte Museum, Sylvain Bellenger; and the Suor Orsola Benincasa work team, including the students from the Master's Degree in Restoration of Cultural Heritage who collaborated on the restoration work. "In a country where there's often talk of the great opportunities squandered in the investment of European funds, we're proud to have completed a long and complex project that allows us to restore to the city one of its great assets. We fully intend to enhance this heritage through numerous academic, scientific, artistic, and cultural projects that put the young people of our city and its universities at the center of their efforts." Thus, Rector d'Alessandro expresses his satisfaction with the inauguration of the Chapel, which, in addition to the University's academic and scientific activities, will primarily serve a "public" purpose for cultural events, conferences, exhibitions, information and documentation spaces on the historic center, and musical, cinematographic, and theatrical performances. The Pignatelli Chapel is so ready for its new life that the first major event will practically coincide with the inauguration. On Monday at 7:00 PM, one hour after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Paolo Isotta's series of masterclasses on "The Splendors of the Neapolitan School of Music" will begin. The series is part of the eleventh edition of the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia. From Alessandro Scarlatti to the genius of Rossini during his Neapolitan period: from Monday to Thursday, always at 19 pm, at the Cappella Pignatelli, four free events (reservations open at www.napoliteatrofestival.it) with one of the most important Italian music historians. Isotta's lecture series will also represent the 'baptism' of the academic and cultural activities of the "Permanent Chair of European Cultures Cappella Pignatelli" at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University. A new university chair, part of the university's curriculum, but also and above all open to public lectures, always in the Pignatelli Chapel, on the major themes of European history and current affairs, which will bring together international experts from various disciplines.
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