WITH THE FREE PATRONAGE OF
CARNEVALE DI PUTIGNANO
CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO APOSTOLO
Putignano a history you don't expect
Church of the former Carmelite Convent
The vast building, built in 1568 and built at the behest of the citizens and thanks to the contribution of a wealthy notary, Nicola Fanelli, housed an average of 80 nuns belonging to the richest families in the country. In fact, it is necessary to visit the inside of the church to understand how this was, for about three centuries, a living center of prayer, frequented by the most distinguished local nobility.
At the entrance there is a small narthex (small atrium), the only example in the churches of Putignano, from which the nave is accessed by climbing a small staircase. The vault has three ribbed spans and the ceiling is decorated with wooden pieces. A women's gallery runs around the nave, a balcony used by the nuns to attend religious services.
The church has both on the external facade and on various internal furnishings (on the ambo, on the benches and on the organ) the coat of arms of the notary benefactor, whose ashes are buried at the foot of the presbytery. Above the central altar stands an eighteenth-century canvas by the Castellanese artist Vincenzo Fato depicting the Madonna del Carmine delivering the scapular to San Simone Stock, while on the sides of the altar, in two niches, the statues of the Carmelite Saints are placed .
In a corner of the picture there is the inevitable Fanelli coat of arms! The canvas bears the author's signature on the shaded side of a stone at the saint's feet:
OPUS VINCENTII FATO A.D. 1765
In two niches on the sides of the main altar there are the statues of two Carmelite Saints, while in the medallion at the top is depicted Saint Elias the prophet.
On the two sides of the nave there are two canvases depicting the Annunciation and the Nativity. The annexed former convent is accessed by a large portal, which leads into a cloister, with a well in the center with a stone arch. The upper floors (formerly the nuns' dormitories) currently house the city library, with about 25,000 volumes, a large conference room and the municipal archive.
This website project born from the idea of Gianni Musaio is enclosed in a team spirit and is the result of the collaboration of people, ordinary citizens, who care about the historical, cultural, artistic, geographical, food and wine heritage of the historic center of Putignano, a town in to live.
The historic center of a town is the fulcrum of the territory, where ancient stories, traditions and culture of those who preceded us are preserved. You too can contribute to leaving the testimonies of the past to the generations to come, taking care of them.