Church of Madonna of Mercy

The church already existing in 1153 used to be a monastery of Benedictine Sisters known as Church of St Angelo of the Women.

In 1448, Pope Eugenio IV gave instructions to extend the church and asked the minor friars Order of Giacomo della Marca to run it. The building underwent restoration works twice, in the late 17^th century and again in the 18^th century. Further consolidation works took place during the 20^th century, following the collapse of part of the arcade. The existent modern Neo- Renaissance look is the result of the rebuilding works, which took place from 1892 to 1900.

The arcade adorns the façade with three entrances. The rectangular ground plan of the church presents only one nave with several lateral chapels and a groin vault ceiling with a dome. The frescos realized in the late 19^th century by Cesare Mariani are the most striking features of the church’s interior. Above the high altar, there is a polychromatic wooden statue of Virgin with Child attributed to Silvestro dall’Aquila. A fresco of Madonna of Mercy with Child of the 15^th century attributed to Carlo Crivelli’s school, is now back to its original location after some restoration works. A must-see is the convent’s cloister, the only evidence left of the previous old medieval building, with its stone columns and the Lombard and Byzantine-style capitals (early 12^th century). 

Lastly, the church has a major collection of votive offerings of the 15^th century. Among them, there is a silver relief of the Nativity (1565), two sixteenth-century chalices from the Napoletanean School and an impressive collection of ecclesiastical vestments (late 16^th early 18^th century).