Aspren or Asprenas (Italian: Sant'Asprenato, Sant'Aspreno, Sant'Aspremo) was a 1st-century Christian saint and venerated as the first Bishop of Naples.
[1] The Marble Calendar of Naples (Calendario Marmoreo di Napoli) attests to Aspren's existence and the fact that he lived during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian; Aspren's episcopate is stated as lasting twenty-three years.
[2] Nothing is known of his life, but an ancient legend holds that Saint Peter, on his way to Rome, stopped at Naples and converted an old woman (identified as Candida the Elder) after he cured her of an illness.
Peter consecrated Aspren as bishop of Naples and asked him to construct the oratory of Santa Maria del Principio, which would form the basis for the basilica of Santa Restituta; San Pietro ad Aram was also said to have been built during this time.
[1] After Aspren's death, numerous miracles were attributed to him, and his sepulcher rested in the oratory of Santa Maria del Principio, although some scholars state that his sepulcher was located in the Catacombs of San Gennaro, where images of the first fourteen Neapolitan bishops can be found.