The Latin title says the least obvious thing right away: ad Nives, of the Snow. Santa Maria ad Nives was once the cathedral of Atella, and people in town still call it the Duomo, although the bishop's seat has long gone. What survives of the older building is above all the stone façade, which dates from the thirteenth century and keeps its gothic portal and rose window; the interior, by contrast, is eighteenth-century work. Between those two dates lies a long series of rebuildings, which is why the church now reads as a pile of styles set side by side without transition.
What to see
The stone façade is the part that reads most clearly: the gothic portal and the rose window belong to the thirteenth century and are the plainest trace of what the church looked like before the rebuildings. Two statues stand on the front as well, Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Nicholas of Bari.
Inside, the things to look for are two altarpieces separated by a good three hundred years: an Annunciation datable to around 1500, still Renaissance in conception, and a Madonna della Neve of 1800. It is the second one that spells out the title the church carries in Latin.
Visiting
The right way to approach it is to stop outside first, in front of the stone: portal, rose window, the two statues. Only then go in, because the jump from the thirteenth-century front to the eighteenth-century nave can only be measured in that order. This is Atella's main church and it is still in use for worship, so opening hours effectively follow the times of services, and anyone turning up in the middle of the day risks finding the doors shut.
Our editors' tip
Look at the two altarpieces in chronological order, the Annunciation of around 1500 first and then the Madonna della Neve of 1800: three hundred years lie between them, and two different ideas of what a sacred image should do. Then step outside and raise your eyes to the rose window: it is the one piece in this church that has never changed century.