Overview
The religious complex of Santa Maria La Nova, located in the historical centre of Nola, has been reconstructed using information contained in the 1651 platea at the Diocesan Historical Archive.
Nun Francesca Sussolana, who belonged to a distinguished family of the city, ordered its construction in 1521 according to the rule of Santa Chiara. Over the course of the centuries, the monastery underwent many modifications, both in the 16th and 17th centuries, resulting in a complete renovation and transformation in 1828. It had a quadrangular structure and three floors, with an inner cloister, fenestrated and surrounded by a corridor. The roofing was characterised by pitched roofs and underlying suppenniums. The cloister also contained a basin in the centre and utility rooms such as cisterns, chicken coop and granary. There was a also a Belvedere Tower with a carriage gate, and a garden bordered by high walls. To the north, was the wall of the enclosure that surrounded another garden. At the north-west end of Via Ambrogio Leone was the Hospice of the Nuns, with a small inner garden. The first refectory was on the ground floor and the second on the first floor, together with the kitchens equipped with ovens and hearths. The various rooms were divided into two corridors that opened onto windows and balconies. The dormitory was on the second floor, with sixteen cubicles and a recreation room. The main façade, facing Via Senatore Cocozza, is characterised by the linearity of the surfaces and the rhythmic succession of windows and mouldings. Lastly, on Via Principessa Margherita, stands the church with the chapel of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Since 1995, the building has been used as a historical-archaeological museum of Nola and its surrounding area.
