Chiesa del Crocifisso

The Church of the Crucifix in Nemi, formally the Sanctuary of the Most Holy Crucifix, is known for a wooden crucifix dated to 1669 and the Marian icon of the Madonna di Versacarro. Both images are central to local devotion and the history of the shrine.

Why it matters

The church was built by Mario Frangipane between 1639 and 1645 and given to the Friars Minor Observant in 1645. Its devotional history centres on the image of the Madonna di Versacarro and the crucifix placed in the church by Fra Vincenzo Pietrosanti in 1669. The crucifix is venerated as miraculous; the story of its completion is preserved as a local religious tradition.

What to notice

The wooden crucifix has a realistic figure and a cavity at the back that once allowed it to serve as a reliquary. The Madonna di Versacarro icon depicts the Virgin in red and blue with the blessing Child against a gold ground. Stolen in 2002, it was recovered in Messina in 2006. The church also preserves interior decoration by Eugenio Cisterna, completed in 1898–99.

Context and history

The church's plan is a reversed Latin cross. In 1789 the Braschi family sponsored restoration and a new marble altar. After the Mercedarians acquired the convent in 1881, the interior was decorated by Cisterna and the façade rearranged by Lorenzo M. de Rossi. Papal visits over the centuries, from Clement XI to Benedict XVI, form part of the sanctuary's history.