San Ferdinando stands on Piazza Trieste e Trento, near the Royal Palace in central Naples. The Jesuits built the original church and dedicated it to Saint Francis Xavier. Construction began in 1636 and was completed in 1759. Cosimo Fanzago was entrusted with the reconstruction in the mid-1650s. The style is Baroque.
In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the kingdom, and the church was granted to the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. The Order rededicated it to Saint Ferdinand III of Castile, the patron saint of the reigning king, Ferdinand IV of Naples.
Paolo De Matteis painted the vault fresco of Saint Francis Xavier and other Jesuits. The church also has statues by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro and Giuseppe Sanmartino. The main altarpiece is a canvas of San Ferdinando by Federico Maldarelli.
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