The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta is the religious symbol of the local community. Wood, stone and canvas tell the story of the faith of this religious building, built around the 12th century on the Giudeca hill, where the first Bagnolese community was born. Enlarged in the 16th century, the Church survived the fire of 1651, after which the main entrance, the presbytery, the choir and the apse were renovated. Its structure is a Latin cross, with three naves and two transepts, and it pr read more
The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta is the religious symbol of the local community. Wood, stone and canvas tell the story of the faith of this religious building, built around the 12th century on the Giudeca hill, where the first Bagnolese community was born. Enlarged in the 16th century, the Church survived the fire of 1651, after which the main entrance, the presbytery, the choir and the apse were renovated. Its structure is a Latin cross, with three naves and two transepts, and it preserves the old entrance door, which faces the historic center, and the high altar, now called "Cappellone", located in front of the entrance to the sacred place. What makes the Collegiate Church a temple of art and faith are the numerous sculptures, paintings and works by famous artists, such as those of the Bagnolese Domenico Di Venuta (1687-1744), author of the statue of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows, with the very particular dress embroidered with gold thread, and Andrea D’Asti (1674-1721), to whom we owe the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and the painting of the Addolorata. Another canvas, depicting the Immaculate Conception protecting Bagnoli, and a sculpture of Saint Francis enrich the artistic testimony of faith. The most precious work, however, is hidden behind the altar and, to access it, you have to go through the sacristy: it is the wooden choir, made between 1652 and 1657 by the Bagnolese artists Scipione Infante (1607-1657) and Giacomo Bonavita (1600-1656). Majestic with 19 rectangular seats, it is a true story carved in wood, from which the protagonist figures of the scenes from the Old Testament stand out in high relief and, in bas-relief, those of the New Testament. read less
