Santa Chiara is a deconsecrated

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Corso Garibaldi #55 in the town of

Isernia Isernia () is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of the province of Isernia. Geography Situated on a rocky crest rising from between the Carpino and the Sordo rivers, the plan of Isernia still refl ...

in the region of

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

, Italy.

History

The historian G. Vincenzo Ciarlanti assigned the founding of a church at this site to circa 1275 commissioned by an Alferio di Isernia. Adjacent to the church was the convent of Santa Maria Annunziata di Agnone, housing

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

since 1422–1434, who had been previously housed in the Monastery della Maiella. The monastery was suppressed in 1809. At the end of the 19th-century, an earthquake forced the closure of the church until 1910. During the first world war, prisoners of the Austria-Hungary were housed in the convent. The church still contains wooden altars, one from the 16th century. The main altarpiece depicts the ''Virgin between St Francis and St Clare''. The altar on the left has a canvas depicting the ''Virgin surrounded by Apostles'. The church was once adjacent to a home for female orphans, founded in 1896 and with care provided by

Servite The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary (; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nun ...

nuns.Isernia Province, tourism office
entry on church.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Molise 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in Isernia {{Molise-RC-church-stub