Things to see · Churches and sanctuaries
Addolorata Chapel, Cirigliano
Cirigliano (Matera)
Addolorata Chapel, Cirigliano is in Cirigliano, province of Matera. Opening hours: Open for services and events; for visits ask the parish or the Pro Loco. Admission: Free.
- Free.
- Open for services and events; for visits ask the parish or the Pro Loco.
About this place
The Addolorata Chapel was the private chapel of the barons of Cirigliano, attached to the baronial castle. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Seven Sorrows and has remained almost intact in its eighteenth-century form.
History
It was built in the seventeenth century and decorated at the wish of Baron Filippo Formica (1720-1783), who chose the Addolorata as the family’s patron. Behind the high altar are buried Baron Giovanni Formica and his wife Barbara Donnaperna, who died in 1814 and 1835. Some canvases by Giuseppe Simonelli, the most important pupil of Luca Giordano, which once adorned the walls, are now on display at Palazzo Lanfranchi in Matera.
What to see
• The wooden ceiling, decorated with scrolls, frames and oil paintings, with a canvas of the Pietà (Virgin Mary cradling the body of Christ) from the eighteenth century at its centre.
• The statue of the Addolorata on the high altar, an eighteenth-century dressable statue wearing a black silk mantle embroidered in gold.
• The pipe organ from the eighteenth-century Neapolitan school, restored, and the choir gallery (cantoria) in carved and painted wood, supported by two columns.
• The stone washbasin (lavamani) behind the altar, with a small basin and a carved mascaron (grotesque face).
How to get there
The chapel is part of the castle complex, in Piazza IV Novembre, in the centre of Cirigliano.
Useful information
• It is usually closed: to visit, it is best to contact the parish or the Pro Loco (local tourist association) in advance.
• In the centre of the village you will also find the Mother Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Mother Church of Santa Maria Assunta).
