The Chiesa del Purgatorio ("Church of the Purgatory"), also called the ''Chiesa delle Santissime Anime del Purgatorio'') is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located on Piazza della Repubblica in the city of

Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to: Places Croatia * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...

, in southern

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy. The church is dedicated to those praying for the souls in

purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

History

A church was first consecrated in 1658, erected under the patronage of the Mazza family. The

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7. ...

that nearly levelled Ragusa, left this church mainly untouched, and in 1694, it took over some of the functions of the nearby church of San Giovanni, that had moved into a new district of Patro. In 1729, this church was placed under the jurisdiction of the church of San Giorgio. A bell-tower was added in the early 18th-century. But too small for the district, in 1740, a new church was begun with a central nave and two chapels, separated by columns with Corinthian capitals (1741). The three order facade was completed in 1757, but the presbytery completed in 1787, when it underwent reconsecration. The church is preceded by a steep staircase to a small piazza degli Archi. The chapels of the Most Blessed Sacrament and of the Most Holy Crucifix have altars depicting respectively St John the Evangelist and the Addolorata. The main altarpiece depicts ''Saints and Souls in Purgatory'' by

Francesco Manno Francesco Manno (20 December 1754 - 18 June 1831) was an Italian painter and architect of the Neoclassical style. Biography Born at Palermo, where he was originally a goldsmith, but later devoted himself to painting, working along his older bro ...

. The cornice has depictions of earthly glory interspersed with skulls as a

Memento mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'

References

Roman Catholic churches in Ragusa Baroque architecture in Ragusa 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1787 {{Italy-RC-church-stub