Church of Maria SS. Ara Coeli in San Marco D'Alunzio
The Church of Maria SS. Ara Coeli in San Marco D'Alunzio, also known as the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, is an ancient and important building of worship in the village.
It was built in the 12th century on the ruins of an ancient pagan temple, at the behest of a Jew converted to Catholicism, following the expulsion of the Saracens from the city. The church was used by the Greek community of the town who lived next door to the Latin community for some time. Over the centuries the building has undergone several renovations, the most important dating back to 1494 and 1630.
The façade presents architectural elements of clear Renaissance inspiration, dating back to the first renovation, such as the string course frame that separates the two orders in which the facade is divided, and eighteenth-century elements such as the magnificent baroque portal. The portal, made with local marble, is delimited by two monolithic fluted columns which rest on slender pedestals with Marian symbols and which end with floral capitals in Corinthian style surmounted by two heads of cherubs which, in turn, are surmounted by a broken pediment with scrolls with the effigy of the Madonna in the centre. The two side entrances are surmounted by more modest pediments broken up by rectangular windows. The bell tower, built in 1594, dominates the square in front of the church and closes the façade of the church on the left side in a prominent position.
The interior, of a basilica layout, is in the shape of a Latin cross and is divided into three naves by Tuscan columns in local red marble which rest on high plinths, and has a real vaulted ceiling and several side chapels.
Among the works kept in the church, of particular artistic value are: the wooden Crucifix by Mastro Simioni Livolsi, kept in the transept of the chapel decorated with stucco and marble statues of the Serpotto school; the gilded wooden tabernacle by Don Corrado Oddo, kept in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament; the main marble altar dedicated to the Madonna Assunta.
