Credits

Tour virtuali: Eugenio Malatacca | 3dimensioni.it
Grafica: Andrulli Gianni, Nicola Petrillo | ego55.com
Testi: Elvira De Giacomo
Traduzioni: Elvira De Giacomo
Sviluppo Web: Cristiano Santeramo | agileweb.it
Coordinamento: Matteo Visceglia | APT Basilicata
Anno produzione: 2009

---

Descrizione

This rock-hewn complex is composed by four communicating churches, dating back to the XII-XIII centuries, with a unique entrance and a common court (the name “convicinio” was probably given for this reason). Around the second half of the XVIII century the churches were desecrated and became wine cellars: still nowadays, in the lowest level, it is possible to see the shovels used to tread grapes.
The Church of St. Primo, completely dug into the calcareous rock, is articulated in two chapels divided by a pillar. In the apse lunettes there are equilateral crosses in bas-relief, based on triangular symbols.
The Church of St. Maria Annunziata or St. Eligio has been torn up, but it is still possible to distinguish two presbyteries with apse vaults signed by an equilateral cross on a triangle. Of the splendid frescoes there are only a Virgin with Child and a Blessing Christ still visible.
The Church of St. Donato has a square plan, divided into a nave and two aisles, from which there is the access to an inferior level, the cellarium, used later as a wine cellar. On the lateral walls of the presbytery there are several frescoes, among which there are St. Donato, St. Leonardo, St. Dorotea and St. Barbara. Near the entrance there is a cistern used to gather rainwater.
The Church of St. Antonio Abate has a square plan with a nave and two aisles separated by four pillars. In the niches there are some frescoes: St. Antonio Abate, St. Sebastiano and a Praying Virgin with Angels, which assists a farmer working in the fields. In the apse presbyteries there are the shovels used to tread grapes and the usual cistern to gather rainwater.

---

<-Torna all'elenco