Convent of
Santa Maria delle Grazie

Description

Four centuries of Franciscan spirituality

The Franciscan convent was founded in 1611 at the wish of the people and under the patronage of Prince Vincenzo Capano, in an area of great natural beauty. The complex develops next to the chapel, around a cloister: a barrel-vaulted corridor connects the various rooms between two rows of monastic cells, while the plain refectory preserves frescoes of artisanal workmanship.

The church is flanked by a three-tier bell tower, each tier with round arches and circular openings. The chapel, built at the beginning of the 18th century, is enriched by the white stuccoes of the master Pietro Sernicola of Pollica. Single-naved, it preserves eight altars along the side walls, three of which bear the coat of arms of the Capano family.

The ceiling canvases are attributed to Nicola Malinconico (1673–1721), of the school of Luca Giordano; behind the main altar is an 18th-century wooden choir. The coffered ceiling, the work of Giuseppe Marrocco of Celso, displays at its centre a canvas of the Assumption. On the end wall stands the statue of the Madonna delle Grazie, in a polychrome stucco frame, at the heart of the feast celebrated every 2 July.

All the places of Pollica