User:MauroAlcibiade/Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (Rionero in Vulture)

The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary ("chiesa della Santissima Annunziata", in Italian) is a parish church in Rionero in Vulture.

History
The date of the foundation of the church is rather uncertain, however, is thought to be founded in the first half of the 18th century. The first mention of the church can be found in the Atti Visitali of 1759. Its construction is due to Marcantonio Di Silvio, a man from a noble family, who wanted a private chapel. The building had a single nave with a wooden ceiling and exposed trusses. The church became a parish in 1780, as we can see from the first baptismal records, and it remained until the 1790s when the celebrations had been interrupted because of restoration work. Then the parish settled in the church of Saint Mary of Caravaggio at the request of the citizens, until May 1831. The destructive earthquake of 1851 severely damaged the building which later was heavily remodeled and enlarged, keeping the single nave, which was covered by a barrel vault. During the restoration work, the parish had its seat in rione Caravaggio, in the church of Saint Mary. However, after the Irpinia earthquake of 1930, the church of Saint Mary had been demolished, due to damage. Therefore, the parish settled in the nearby church of Saint Nicholas. The church of the Annunciation was definitively reopened in 1947, by the priest of that time don Michele Di Sabato. After the Irpinia earthquake of 1980, the church underwent further restoration thanks to the priest don Domenico Traversi. During this restoration work, the small bell tower was demolished. Subsequently, the church reopened in 1990. In 2013 a renovation restored the church to its original appearance, typical of the 18th century.

Description
The church was built with local volcanic stone and has a longitudinal plan with a single nave. The facade, which is simple and bare in the appearance, is tripartite by four lesenes that support the trabeation and the triangular tympanum, in which there is a round window. The tympanum is topped with a cross. The stone portal is decorated with a simple grooved pattern and presents two doors decorated by two bronzy foils that represent the Resurrection and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. The nave is covered by a barrel vault decorated with simple stucco and it is supported by pillars that frame the side chapels. They are flanked by pilasters with composite capitals and floral motifs. The triumphant arch is adorned with winged putti and floral motifs.

The church presents three side chapels on either side, which host several niches and altars. Starting from the right, we can find a holy water font made in 1917 and the papier-mâché statue of the Crucifix, which dates back to the last century. Continuing on this side, we find the second chapel, now bare, which hosted a niche with a statue of the Immaculate Conception. In the third chapel, we find a twentieth-century altar, initially dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel, with a niche that hosts a statue of the Sacred Heart. On the left side, starting from the entry, there is a baptismal font, placed during the restoration of 2013. In the second chapel on the left, we can find a twentieth-century altar dedicated to Our Lady of Caravaggio, Saint Anthony of Padua, and Saint Donatus of Ripacandida (this latter was recently replaced by the effigy of Our Lady of Medjugorie). In the third chapel, there are the statues representing the patron saints of the parish, Saint Cosmas and Damian. The niche, decorated with gold powder and lapis lazuli powder representing a starry sky, was built on the occasion of the patronal feast of 2018. The previous niche was removed together with the underlying altar.

Continuing in the presbytery, it has a trapezoidal plan and it is covered by a cross vault decorated with floral motifs. Here there is the twentieth-century high altar surmounted by the colonnaded niche that hosts the sculptural group of the Annunciation of the Virgin. It was made of wood by local artisans between the second half of the 18th century and the early 1800s and it presents three subjects: the Virgin Mary, archangel Gabriel and the representation of the Holy Spirit, crowned by golden rays. The sculptural group was restored to its original state during the restoration of 2013.