Il Museo della Religiosità Popolare di Foggia is housed in the crypt of the Church of the Croci (or Cappellone), the only national monument in the city, dating back to 1693 and erected on the site where Capuchin friar Antonio da Olivadi planted seven crosses along the path of a penitential procession. Subsequently, a monumental triumphal arch and the church were built. The complex was constructed in the Baroque style, using tuff. Currently, the monument features a triumphal arch portal through which one accesses a lawn where five chapels (of the seven originally planned) are aligned, covering as many 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 portraying the Ascent to Calvary attributed to the Neapolitan school. At the center of the church floor is a hatch covered by a tombstone with a Latin inscription indicating the crypt (“Holy Land”) where the remains of the confreres of the Congregation of Monte Calvario are preserved. The crypt was probably the site of secret meetings during the Risorgimento.
Information about the Museum of Popular Religiosity of Foggia
Piazza Sant’Eligio c/o Cripta Chiesa delle Croci o del Monte Calvario,
71121 Foggia (Foggia)
0881771823
Source: MIBACT
