Mother Church in Pietraperzia
The Mother Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Pietraperzia is among the largest religious buildings in the area.
It was built starting in 1530, at the behest of Matteo Barresi, Marquis of Pietraperzia, on the site where a Norman church of 12th century which was demolished, of which some traces remain in the sacristy rooms. In 1799, as the building became unsafe, it was rebuilt once again. The construction work on the church was never completed: the bell towers and the portico in front of the sacred building were never added.
The façade is divided into two orders and entirely covered in bricks. On the first level there are three portals, the central one being larger. On the second order there is a semicircular window and the tympanum, surmounted by the cross.
The Church, in the shape of a Latin cross, is divided into three naves, surmounted by full-centre arches resting on pillars with side chapels. The interior is richly decorated with valuable stuccos.
Among the works kept in the church, of particular artistic value and historical relevance are: the altarpiece with the Coronation of the Madonna by Paladini placed behind the High Altar; a marble sarcophagus, oval in shape placed on the backs of lions, which contains the mortal remains of Dorotea Barresi, vice queen of Naples; the two sarcophagi with the remains of Pietro Barresi and his wife Laura, lords of Pietraperzia; the architectural remains of the Romanesque style sacred building dating back to the 12th century on which the new church was built; the Caterva, originally the crypt of the old Greek-Byzantine church, where a precious Greek-style crucifix in pure gold is kept.
