Chiesa Collegiata di S. Maria

The Collegiata di S. Maria announces its Norman inheritance through a sober stone façade, its three distinct gables declaring the three aisles within. The central portal, rectangular and flanked by flat pilasters with Corinthian capitals, is surmounted by a 16th-century ogival lunette carved with a Nativity scene. Two large splayed windows and a rose window illuminate the interior.

Inside, the longitudinal plan is divided by grand octagonal columns. The aisles are vaulted in ogive style, the lower side aisles reaching half the height of the central nave, a proportion echoed on the exterior. Wide arched windows flood the space with light, except along the left aisle, partly obscured by the adjacent canon’s house. Below the nave windows, blind triforia are flanked by statues. The apse, polygonal and slightly raised, houses a large 19th-century tempietto tabernacle by Zanoia. A curious tempera decoration of white and pink stripes runs along the side aisles.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.