Visit Ischia

Description

The church stands on the current Corso Vittoria Colonna in Ischia Porto, in the six-eighteenth century village a few meters from the beach. The parish priest of San Vito Martire and the Holy Spirit: Fat. Antonio Moraldi, conceived the construction of this church, unable to tolerate the inhabitants of Villa dei Bagni, should reach the Chiesa dei Frati Minori. The temple then took the name of Purgatory Church or, more precisely, of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Souls in Purgatory, probably in memory of the Chapel, now included in the Royal Palace, along with comfort and tradition so that he wanted to dedicate the church cemetery: in fact The floor below was used precisely to the municipal cemetery.
This also explains why the gentleman Pasquale Battistessa, who was hanged during the Revolution of 1799 on the beach of Mandra and presumed dead, was transported, but he had recovered during the night, was finished by the executioners at the foot of the main altar. Today the street and the square dedicated to him near, remember that infamous crime. Moreover, since the aforesaid Chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, was worshiped a statue of St. Peter, that the inhabitants of Villa dei Bagni mostly devoted to fishing and very devoted to the saint, loved bear in procession every year on June 28, up to the Temple erected by Moraldi, over the years it took to indicate the church also with the title of S. Peter.
The Church stands from the road and is set back on a small space and is preceded by a rustic courtyard paved with lava stones. The front and convex shape, while the interior space and its unique elliptical shape with a unitary character very far from the most current solutions adopted in other provinces and churches. The top of the dome is covered with yellow and green majolica tiles that give an extraordinary color and landscape, clearly visible from the beach and the pine forest of “Arso”. Unfortunately, regrets the fact that the few historical sources do not allow us to identify the name of the architect, although a careful reading of the work, it is possible to conclude that at least in current culture and taste, it can be placed.