The Celestial Protection

The protection of the city of Naples, during the centuries, has been relied on 51 saints of the Catholic Church. Also the Virgin Mary needs to be added to the large group of saints as "the Queen of all saints", "the divine Protectress", and 51 patrons come to Her by intercession of celestial Father.
 
Artistic representations have eventually helped to portray and to remember the protection beyond this world on Naples and its inhabitants, but in the public memory the remembrance of the competence that the government of the city had in the new patrons' admission is probably clearless.

After having had the approval of the city, they were waiting for the release of papal Bull and then, as an ancient tradition, petitioners provided to make a silver bust depicting the saint and containing some of his relics. The bust was received in cathedral in a solemn way and placed in Treasure of Saint Gennaro's Chapel, together with the ones of other patrons ( duting the centuries precious statues have left the Cathedral in occasion of the procession that has place on the first saturday of May, in memory of transfer of Saint Gennaro's relics from Montevergine to Naples in 1497. The rareness of the event for the birth of an ancient saying still today pronunciated at the apparition of people that go around few times: "... so' asciute 'e statue 'a dint' 'o vescovato!"). 

 
During the centuries the government structure of the city changed several times and among the consequences it has been, in 1830's, the need to state which one of the municipal organ of administration had to deliberate about the claim to plead.
To solve this problem they didn't hesitate to turn to the ancient documents kept in "The City Archives" and, after a long debate, they decided with a majority vote to entrust this job to Decurionate, a kind of a modern Municipal Council.

With san Gennaro, patron saint of  Naples par excellence, were named sant'Aspreno, sant'Atanasio, sant'Eufebio (also known as Efebo, turned by neapolitans into Eframo), sant'Agrippino and sant'Agnello abate.They were all named Bishops and the patrocinate of the city has been established in a so ancient epoch that it's unknown. 
 
During 17th century the celestial  designation of patron saints continued, thanks to an exploit of demands; during the Counter-Reformation, the protection of the city has been committed to 25 saints: s. Tommaso d'Aquino, s. Andrea d'Avellino, s. Patrizia, s. Francesco di Paola, s. Domenico, s. Giacomo della Marca, s. Francesco Saverio, s. Teresa d'Avila, s. Antonio di Padova, s. Filippo Neri, s. Gaetano, s. Severo, s. Nicola, s. Gregorio Armeno, s. Chiara, s. Biagio, s. Pietro martire, s. Giuseppe, s. Michele Arcangelo, s. Francesco d'Assisi, s. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, s. Giovanni Battista, s. Francesco Borgia, s. Candida minore, s. Maria Egiziaca. 

 
In the age of Enlightenment the new patron saints were six:
s. Antonio Abate, s. Ignazio di Loyola, s. Maria Maddalena penitente, s. Irene, s. Emidio vescovo di Ascoli, s. Raffaele Arcangelo.
During the nineteenth century,ten:
s. Anna, s. Luigi Gonzaga, s. Agostino, s. Vincenzo Ferreri, s. Alfonso Maria de' Liguori, s. Francesco Caracciolo, s. Francesco de Geronimo (o de Girolamo, di Girolamo), s. Giovanni Giuseppe della Croce, s. Pasquale Baylon, s. Rocco, s. Gioacchino.
In the twentieth century only four: s. Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe, s. Lucia, s. Gertrude, s. Rita.