Churches & Places of Worship

The church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Ceprano was almost completely rebuilt after the war according to the designs of Vespignani.

It is of neoclassical style and houses the relics and precious wooden statue of St. Arduino priest of the VII century.

There is a marble sarcophagus that encases the remains of Manfredi of Swabia.

The Benedictine complex of Santa Maria Palazzolo is located in the area called Villa Euchelia in Castrocielo.

Originally it had a square plan with a central courtyard that was around an ancient well.

Next to the convent was the church that was badly damaged during the Second World War.

The church had a single nave and had frescoes of the 1300-1400, which were removed and transferred on support media to the gallery of the Church of San Rocco.
 

The church of Saint Lucia is located in the centre of the village of Castrocielo and dates from 1746.

Built in a classic Renaissance style, it has three naves with three separate entrances.

Inside you can see two beautiful paintings by Alfonso Simonetti, nineteenth-century painter from Naples, representing Saint Lucia Virgin and Martyr.

The chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of Castelnuovo Parano belonged to the Brotherhood of the Body of Christ .

It has a floor of 'hexagonal' ceramic tiles arranged in a honeycomb and decorated, and other ceramics. In total, there are about seventy hexagonal tiles in the chapel, of which only 17 are in the best storage conditions.

Decorative elements can be generally zoomorphic (animal forms) or phytomorphic (plant forms), and with frequent female figures. The edge of each tile is always enlivened by coloured lines.
 

The church of Santa Maria della Minerva is the oldest in the town of Castelnuovo Parano.

It is located in the historical centre in front of the castle.

Access to the single nave with six altars and is through a sixteenth century gate in local stone.

Inside the church the nave is adorned with carefully tiled coatings hand painted by local artists.

Simple and austere, it has a square plan bell tower of 15 meters with three bells.

In 1513 a side altar was consecrated to St. Mauro, the patron of Castelnuovo Parano.

The chapel of Our Lady of the Plane of Castelnuovo Parano was built on the site where, according to legend, the Madonna del Piano rested.

Even today you can see the two rocks on which her body and her feet are miraculously etched.

The church of the Annunciation in Castelnuovo Parano dates from 1631.

It was built using a fund made available by the Princess of Stigliano.

It has a single nave with an octagonal presbytery and three side altars on each side.

The chapel of the Souls of Purgatory was built in 1715 and decorated with frescoes by Crescenzo Gamba, a local painter.

The side altars have attractively tiled coverings with the possibility to observe variations of decorations that have been processed in a ceraamic workshop during the eighteenth century.

They are attributed to Gaetano Pardo, the only one who was given the title of ‘figulus insignis’ (Signature as maker of earthenware vessels) among artisans working in Sant'Apollinare.

Coming from Naples, he was operating in the area of ​​Cassino in 1744.

The bell tower was built some time later.
 

The chapel of Grace of Castelnuovo Parano is located in the Pimpinelli village and was built around the seventeenth century and the architecture of that time is evident.

Inside there are two altars and behind the larger, of marble, we see traces of ancient frescoes depicting St. Peter and Paul.