| The ex-Convent of the Black Franciscans is on the slopes of the hill where the old centre of Specchia stands.
The complex of buildings, dating back to between the 15th and 16th centuries, is made up of the old convent with its adjacent church, together with the chapel of Saint Caterina, recognised as being of particular historical and artistic significance.
The convent would definitely have been standing when, as stated on a tombstone, in 1531 the Chapter of the Black Franciscans took place. In 1532 the Chapel of Saint Caterina the Martyr (Cappella di Santa Caterina Martire) was built.
The building is frescoed with high quality paintings.
The pictures tell the story of the martyring of Saint Catherine and Saint Agatha, they also portray Saint Cosimo and Saint Damiano.
On the wall opposite the entrance there is a picture of Christ, Saint Leonard and high up, under the lunette, the famous prophetess the Sybil Cumana crowned with roses and dressed in green.
The arches are decorated with stucco work.
Underneath the church there is a crypt that has been carved out of the rock, held up by thirty-six columns.
In the centuries that followed the 18th century, the Convent underwent several modifications linked to its changing role.
The structure was strengthened with the addition of buttresses and new rooms.
Nowadays, after years of abandon, the structure has been renovated and entrusted to the “Fondazione Campus Studi del Mediterraneo” to be used as a town council library, as a university building and for congresses.
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