| The church of the Cappuccini is immersed in the heart of the Valle d’Itria, and it is an authentic jewel of the Baroque style cabinet making. The church and the convent of the cappucini were built on top of a pre-existing settlement of the Basilian monks, dating back to the 13th century. The settlement was formed by a grange and by an adjacent hypogean chapel, with a Byzantine fresco of the Madonna dell’Odegitria, which is now located in the first chapel on the left, and it has been very much remodelled.
The works on the church, dedicated to the Assunta, terminated in 1590, as it is indicated by the date which is readable on the trabeation of the entrance portal. Another date of the façade, andprecisely on the archivolt of the entrance portal, quotes the date <1698>, which refers to the reworkings the façade endured a century a later.
The façade does not show any particular decoration, apart from a stone statue of the Holy Mary, which is slotted in the niche which surmounts the entrance portal. Above on the left, the façade is flanked by a magnificent Baroque bell tower.
The church has a longitudinal plan, with the opening of three, very deep chapels of the left side, whereas on the other side there is only one chapel, the one of the Madonna dei Sette Dolori which is just as deep. The interior is enriched by Baroque altars, inlayed with an exquisite manufacture, which are the work of the so-called mastri marangoni, who were highly skilled artisans originally from the Veneto region, who came to these parts thanks to their contacts with the religious orders; they went on to proliferate in their art. Every altar is dedicated to a saint cappuccino; for example, on the second altar on the right, there is the canvass of San Giuseppe da Copertino, who lived here for a few months. Another canvass of a particular artistic worth is the one of the Assunta (1589), placed on the high altar; it is by Antonio d'Orlando, a painter from the Salento area who started the Baroque season in the Itria Valley.
Some chapels have the floor covered with the majolica tiles of the maestro figulo (master of the ceramic) from Grottaglie: del Monaco.
Today the convent and the church are managed by the Padri Somaschi. |