Carmine Church

The building would have been constructed in the second half of the 16th century on the remains, or by incorporating parts, of a previous church dedicated to Santa Maria della Misericordia. The current appearance clearly reflects neoclassical interventions of the twentieth century: the façade features strict lines, figurative capitals, and empty niches arranged in overlapping pairs. On the frieze appears the dedication to Madonna del Carmine, while higher up there is a quadrangular niche with the coat of arms of Archbishop Ferdinando Bernardi. The facade facing Piazza della Vittoria is characterized by four circular windows, a balcony for blessings, and a distinctive bell tower adorned with statues of angels; also notable is the presence of commercial premises on the street level along Via D’Aquino. The interior is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a single nave, a small dome at the intersection of the arms, lateral chapels, and niches intended for statues. In a chapel on the right side, a fragment of a column is preserved, tradition connects it to the passage of St. Peter in Taranto; the relic, accompanied by an epigraph from 1651 commissioned by Archbishop Caracciolo, came from the church of San Pietro della Porta, demolished in 1577 during the enlargement works of the area later used for the Navigable Canal. In the transept, valuable paintings are preserved, including “Maddalena dei Pazzi” by Paolo De Matteis. Among the devotional works stand out the Madonna Addolorata and the Dead Christ, Neapolitan statues from the 18th century donated by the Calò family, as well as the “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane” and three sculptures by Giuseppe Manzo, “Ecce Homo”, “Christ at the Column” and “the Waterfall”, delivered by the artist in 1901.