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Church and Monastery of S. Francesco di Paola |
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The church, originally dedicated to the Madonna, and then, following the building of the monastery, to S. Francesco di Paola (the town’s patron saint), has been the parish church since 1921. The building has a simple façade leading into a porch featuring a door with intaglio work from the beginning of the 20th century. The interior conserves the layout given during the radical restructuring carried out in the mid-18th century. The two holy water stoups have crests with “Charitas”. The walls present a succession of alcoves, with oval representations of saints, and altars, the second on the left flanked by the crests of the Tortora family, whose family tomb stands in the crypt. Part of the original baluster round the choir and also the high altar have been conserved; we know from records that the latter was put up in 1750 and moved two metres further back in 1860 when the wooden choirstalls of the friars were eliminated. There are some fine paintings in the church, the work of the brothers Giovanni and Antonio Sarnelli, pupils of De Matteis active in the second half of the 18th century: the Madonna con Gesù e S. Anna con Giovanni and S. Biagio con S. Simone Stock e un santo vescovo, behind the façade, both dated 1761, and the altarpiece depicting S. Michele Arcangelo. In addition there are some wooden statues: S. Anna and S. Francesco da Paola from the 18th century and the high quality statue of the Madonna, which probably came down from the church of S. Maria della Sanità, apparently dating from the early 16th century and ascribable to the circle of Giovanni da Nola. The 16th century monastery of the Minim friars built on the left of the church was expropriated in 1809 and reacquired in the second half of the 19th century by Canon Tommaso Maria Fusco, who created here the order of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, who still run the complex. It has undergone major transformations, but conserves the cloisters with pillars and lunettes probably dating from the 17th century depicting scenes from the life of the Calabrese saint. |
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Period |
16th century |
Location |
S. Francesco Way |