Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piagge (Deruta)

Why it matters

Santa Maria delle Piagge in Deruta connects the town's Marian devotion with its ceramics tradition. Built in 1601 to shelter a roadside shrine, the small church later became associated with the Compagnia del Rosario o della Morte. A ceramic panel by Deruta artist Amerigo Lunghi was placed above the portal in 1952.

What to notice

The facade panel shows the Madonna enthroned with the Child and is dated to 1929. Inside, a single altar holds a fresco of the Madonna and Child associated with the original shrine. Copies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century maiolica ex-voto tablets line the walls; six originals are preserved in the Regional Museum of Ceramics. The church's name, Piagge, refers to the steep slope beside the site.

Context and history

The church was erected by the magistrates of Deruta in 1601 and was aggregated to the Compagnia del Rosario o della Morte in 1606. The maiolica panel above the portal links the town's ceramic art with its devotional history. In the twentieth century, Lunghi's panel was installed on the older stone facade, while copies of the ex-voto tablets took the place of originals transferred to the regional collection.