Anime Sante del Purgatorio Church in Trapani
The Church of the Souls of the Purgatory of Trapani is a church that overlooks the Piazzetta Purgatorio, important for Catholic worship as it guards during the year the twenty sculptural groups that are brought in procession during the Mysteries of Holy Week .
The church was built in 1688, to a design by Don Pietro Castro, while the facade, from 1712, is due to the architect Giovanni Biagio Amico, buried in the same church. Damaged during the bombings of the Second World War, it was reopened for worship in 1962.
The facade is divided into two orders and adorned with twelve stuccoed stone statues depicting the twelve Apostles and Jesus, works made by Alberto Orlando. The momentum of the central, higher part and the movement in the lower order develops the dynamic effects of Baroque architecture, departing from the prevailing neoclassicist fashion.
The interior, with three naves, has a Latin cross plan. The side aisles host three chapels with as many altars. The church also has a transept with chapels at the ends of each arm, minor apses, and a raised and balustraded presbytery.
Of considerable value is the sacristy with its walnut wood engravings, enriched by the Souls of Purgatory.
