Complesso dei Santi Tommaso e Barnaba

At Valle Vetica below San Ginesio's southern walls, the church of Santi Tommaso e Barnaba preserves the history of medieval lay confraternities and their charitable work. The complex includes the church of the Flagellanti and a surviving loggia associated with the former hospital of San Barnaba.

Why it matters

The Confraternita dei Flagellanti, also known as the Disciplinati, built the church on land at Valle Vetica after a 1339 donation from Tommaso Piantarosa. The church was completed in 1365. A hospital dedicated to San Barnaba stood beside it, joining worship with hospitality for travellers and the poor.

What to notice

The surviving loggia recalls the hospital's presence. The church's Romanesque portal has sculpted decoration. Rooms associated with the confraternity include a “disciplina” room and a small museum of its objects and records.

Context and history

The Flagellanti maintained the church until the Napoleonic suppressions. In the early nineteenth century, the Confraternita del Sacro Cuore di Gesù, known as the Sacconi, established its presence in the complex; its own account records its foundation in 1819 and settlement in the complex by a notarial deed of 1824. The confraternity has continued to maintain the site and support restoration. A local commemorative tradition recalls a 1377 warning by a baker that alerted the town to an approach from Fermo; the confraternity's Fornarina award is named for that story.