The Museum of Popular Religiosity in Foggia is housed in the crypt of the Church of the Crosses (or Cappellone), the city’s only national monument, dating back to 1693 and built on the site where the Capuchin father Antonio da Olivadi planted seven crosses along the route of a penitential procession. Subsequently, a monumental triumphal arch and the church were erected. The complex was built in Baroque style, using tuff. Currently, the monument features a portal-triumphal arch through which one accesses a lawn where five chapels are aligned (of the originally planned seven), each covering one of the crosses. The interior of the church, decorated with eighteenth-century stuccoes, has a single nave with two side chapels. On the vault, instead, there is a painting depicting the Ascent to Calvary attributed to the Neapolitan school. In the center of the church floor, there is a trapdoor covered by a tombstone with a Latin inscription indicating the crypt (“Holy Land”) where the remains of the confreres of the Monte Calvario Congregation are preserved. The crypt was probably the site of secret meetings during the Risorgimento.
Information about the Museum of Popular Religiosity in Foggia
Piazza Sant’Eligio c/o Cripta Chiesa delle Croci o del Monte Calvario ,
71121 Foggia (Foggia)
0881771823
Source: MIBACT
