San Francesco di Paola is a church in Naples, Italy. It is located on the west side of the Piazza del Plebiscito opposite the Palazzo Reale.
The entire square as well as the large buildings and colonnades on its west side were planned at the beginning of the 19th century by the then King of Naples, Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law, as a homage to the emperor. In order to make room for the new buildings, he first had the old monastery buildings demolished and announced a public competition for the design of the square. After Napoleon's banishment and Joachim Murat's deposition, the Bourbons returned to the throne of Naples. King Ferdinand I launched a new competition in 1817 and dedicated the planned church to Saint Francis of Paola, who had spent time in a monastery on the same site in the 16th century. The church was finally built according to the plans of Pietro Bianchi and in 1836 by Pope Gregory XVI. consecrated.
The shape of the church is reminiscent of the Pantheon in Rome. The facade is divided by a portico, resting on six columns and two pillars with Ionic capitals. The interior of the church is designed as a rotunda with a diameter of 34 meters, which surrounds 34 Corinthian-style columns with a height of 11 meters, which support the 53-meter-high main dome. There are two side chapels on the side, one of which was designed by Luca Giordano.
The main altar is a work by Anselm Cangiano from 1641, richly decorated with lapis lazuli and other precious stones. It originally comes from the Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli and was moved to its new location in 1835.