Chiesa e convento dei Frati Cappuccini

The Capuchin complex on the edge of Alessano was founded in 1628 at the wish of Bishop Nicol Antonio Spinelli. The church preserves a monumental inlaid wooden altar and seventeenth-century canvases; part of the convent is now the Casa Francescana Don Tonino Bello.

Why it matters

The complex has remained associated with the Capuchins despite suppressions in 1809 and 1866; the friars returned in 1929. An inscription records the church's consecration by Bishop Giovanni Granafei in 1658. Its artworks and surviving library furniture preserve a distinctive chapter in the religious history of Alessano.

What to notice

The single-nave church is centred on an eighteenth-century wooden altar with inlay and carving by local workshops. Above it hangs the seventeenth-century canvas of the Perdono di Assisi, donated by Laura Guarini; her family arms appear at the lower edge. The flanking canvases show Isaiah and Sant'Anna with the young Mary, and the roundel above depicts San Giuseppe. The works are attributed to Alessano painter Aniello Letizia. In the former library room, the original wooden doors and fittings survive, although the books were transferred to Maglie in 1884.

Context and history

Bishop Spinelli brought the Capuchins to Alessano in 1628, when the convent stood beyond the built-up town. The church was consecrated in 1658. The friars were expelled during the suppressions of 1809 and 1866 and returned in 1929. The library's books were transferred in 1884 to the Biblioteca Piccinno in Maglie, leaving the room's original wooden furnishings in place. The convent's present spiritual-house function commemorates Don Tonino Bello, born in Alessano in 1935 and ordained there in 1957.