Casa Natale di San Giuseppe da Copertino

Opposite the Baroque sanctuary of Copertino stands the paternal home of Saint Joseph of Copertino. The Desa family house was bought by Franciscan friars in 1753 and converted into a chapel; it preserves a painting of the saint appearing at the bedside of his dying mother while he was in Assisi.

Why it matters

The house offers a domestic counterpart to the nearby sanctuary and birthplace associated with the saint. It belonged to Felice Desa, father of Giuseppe Maria, who was born in 1603 in a stable after the family’s financial difficulties forced his mother, Franceschina Panaca, to leave the house. The chapel preserves a devotional memory of the family and of the saint’s later religious life.

What to notice

The principal artwork is a painting of Franceschina Panaca’s death in 1645, with her son appearing to her from Assisi. The scene reflects the tradition of bilocation associated with Saint Joseph of Copertino. The modest house was adapted into a chapel, creating a memorial space distinct from the sanctuary and the stalletta where he was born.

Context and history

In 1623, Franceschina ceded the house as a dowry to her daughter Livia. The property later passed to other owners before the friars of the Grottella purchased it in 1753, the year of Giuseppe’s beatification, and converted it into a chapel. The house thus became a second place of memory for the town, alongside the sanctuary and the saint’s birthplace.