Cappella di San Sebastiano

The Chapel of San Sebastiano stands on the path between Pastena and Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi in Massa Lubrense. Tradition connects its origins with a plague vow; the chapel preserves a weathered fresco of the Virgin and four saints.

Why it matters

The chapel is a small but telling record of how communities marked epidemics and recovery. Its history includes a restoration after the 1656 plague and a commemorative inscription recording the work.

What to notice

A marble slab in the vestibule reproduces the Latin inscription about fundraising by Bartolomeo Cuccaro and the chapel's enlargement after the epidemic. It was made from an inscription found during restoration work in 1880. Inside, a damaged and repainted fresco depicts the Madonna with Saints Bartholomew, Januarius, Sebastian and Sosius.

Context and history

The chapel's roots reach back to the fifteenth century, although its exact founding date is uncertain. The inscription describes it as an older chapel associated with the end of a pestilence and records its enlargement by the people of Pastena. The village belonged to Sant'Agata's parish until 1613.