Church of the Purgatory

The church was built at the time when Luigi Arias founded the Municipality with the name Sant’Orsola, probably in honour of the Marquis’ daughter. In 1626 it was given to the fraternal order of Our lady of the Small Conception that in exchange assumed the duty of celebrating a daily mass for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, from which almost certainly derives its new name. In 1766 it was restored on the design by a local engineer named Truglio, while the façade was devised by a French monk and carried out by the master Girolamo Petrusa, as stated in an inscription above the main portal that indicates the year 1796. The three-nave interior preserves a set of eighteenth century sculptures depicting the Madonna with Saint Domenic and a Baroque set in gilded wood depicting Saint Joseph and Baby Jesus (XVIII century). Before the earthquake the two sets were kept in the Mother Church. The Church of the Purgatory suffered major damage in 1968 and was subsequently restructured.