Chiesa della Collegiata

This church is called new Collegiate for it was built where the Trinity Oratory once stood. Construction began in 1700 on the design by Lazzaro Giosafatti and under the direction of Pietro Maggi. Some spoils from the demolition of Santa Maria della Rocca were used on that occasion. The main façade is a mixture of Greek, Roman and Baroque styles. It is characterized by a big lunette in its middle displaying a mosaic of Our Lady of Assumption, added in 1950, on occasion of the centenary of a miracle which saw the statue of Our Lady, still visible, move her eyes and put an end to the existing plague. The statue is kept in the chapel of the transept along with the Prize of the Miracle. The interior, a Latin cross, is divided into three naves and in the middle, close to the apse, there is a cupola shaped like a small peripteral temple. The aisles host several minor altars decorated with canvasses by well-known local artists. The inferior limbs of the church host two chapels flanked by two flights of steps which lead into the crypt. The crypt embraces the cave of the Madonna of Lourdes by Professor Leoni whose miniature details closely resemble those of the original cave. It was built using spoils from Mount Ascension in 1920. It is a very evocative place of worship and prayer.