Religion in Calitri
Through the centuries, Calitrians worshipped several saints, to whom they turned for help and protection, addressed prayers, dedicated statues and processions and in whose name they entitled churches and chapels.
Despite the paucity of records prior to the 16th century, it is nonetheless possible to get an idea of the most ancient cults and the reasons why they came into existence.
THE CULT OF MARY
The large number of churches and chapels dedicated to the Holly Virgin is evidence of the Calitrians' deep devotion to Mary, worshipped under several titles: The Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Graces, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, the Assumption, St. Mary of Montserrat, Our Lady of the Snows, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of the Annunciation, Our Lady of Assistance, St. Mary of Constantinople, Our Lady of the Crowns.
This devotion is of very ancient origin-as attested by the Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Forest at the abbey of S. Maria in Elce, dating back to the iconoclastic period (726-834 A.D.).
Some cults, such as those for Our Lady of the Snows, (in the castle church), the Assumption and the Annunciation, go back to the Middle Ages, while others are typical of the modern period: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, worshipped in the church by the same name in Naples, whose cult became definitive in the Jubilee year 1500; Our Lady of Constantinople, also worshipped in Naples and invoked during the plague epidemics of 1526 and 1575; finally Our Lady of the Rosary, a cult instituted after the victory of the Christian armies against the Turks at Lepanto (1571), and later spread abroad mainly by Dominican friars.
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Already in the 16th century, there were in Calitri a number of altars dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.
In the second half of the 17th century, when this cult had spread throughout the Kingdom Of Naples-thanks to the Franciscans and the Jesuits-churches and chapels were built and dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin, and were decorated by the most famous artists of the period.
The Calitrian Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception was founded in 1710 by a few priests of a Neapolitan congregation, and a few years later construction was begun on a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
The current church with its three naves, built after the earthquake of 1910 and rebuilt more or less in the same style after 1980, is very different from the original little church (with only one nave and two altars), founded in 1714 on St. Blaise (San Biagio) hill.
Only the central portal of the 18th-century structure survived. The statue of the lmmaculate Conception worshipped in Calitri is patterned after an iconographic model widely popular in the Baroque period.
Churches in Calitri
Church of St. Canion (CHIESA DI SAN CANIO)
Among the other works of art in this church are three splendid paintings representing respectively the St. Canion Falls, the Adoration of the Holy Sacrament and the Presentation in the Temple.
Church of the Annunciation (CHIESA DELL'ANNUNZIATA)
Built in 1577 and restored toward the end of the 17th Century, it has an artistic stone portal with lunette and several 18th-century paintings by Cavallino.
Church of the Immaculate Conception (CHIESA DELL'IMMACOLATA CONCEZIONE)
It was open for worship as of 1714 and completely rebuilt after the 1980 earthquake. Noteworthy are the 17th -century statue of St. Vitus and that of the Immaculate Conception, dated 1730. A permanent Nativity Scene, of great value, set in the church crypt, reproduces the narrow streets of the old town, some of which are no longer in existence. There is an exhibit located inside the Immaculate Conception church. The objects on display are centuries-old and come from various churches in town.
