CHIESA SAN PIETRO APOSTOLO

CHURCH OF ST. PETER APOSTLE

The ancient church dedicated to St. Peter origin cannot be traced because we have no documents regarding its foundation The historian Matteo Camera states that Agerola’s municipal administration assemblies were held in the churchyard of in ancient. Some historical documents, though, suggest that it already existed in the 12th century under Frederick II of Swabia.

Description and artwork

Period: uncertain

The church has a rich artistic heritage dating back to the 15th century. The adjoining oratory holds the panel painting depicting the Our Lady of Mount Carmel between S. Anthony Abbot and S. John; this work, dated 1592, is attributable to a painter from the Cesare Calice da Forio current. The high altar is surmounted by a modest 18th-century canvas depicting the Madonna in Glory between St. Peter and St. Paul. Iconographically interesting is the canvas depicting the Mass for the Souls in Purgatory; the work refers to other mystical iconographies of the same theme, dating back to the 16th century.  Preserved in the church treasury is a valuable 15th-century silver Processional Cross and an 18th-century statue of St. Peter the Apostle. There are several gravestones with coat of arms of local noble families and congregations. In the lunette above the entrance to the sacristy, above a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary with related panels depicting the mysteries, stands an oil on canvas depicting the Eternal Father between St. Francis and St. Ignatius, works of an unknown author from the 17th century.

In a side chapel there is a statue of St. Anthony Abbot patron of Agerola, dating from 1752.