CHIESA SAN MATTEO APOSTOLO

CHURCH OF SAINT MATTHEW THE APOSTLE

The church dedicated to St. Matthew the Apostle, in addition to being an important historical-architectural emergence of Agerola is, with its elegant facade, the prominent element of Bomerano’s central square The earliest records date back to 1158, which reported it to be located southwest of the ancient town of Bomerano, one of the four hamlets into which Agerola was divided in medieval times. Having been destroyed, it was built in 1580 in Paolo Capasso Square. In 1577 the rectory house was built by presbyter Francesco Avitabile, as shown by a marble epigraph on the facade.

Description and artwork

Period: 12th century

The church preserves valuable evidence of its 16th-century origin such as the marble baptismal font and the epigraph, placed on the outside wall, commemorating the construction of the rectory house. Of great grandeur is the eighteenth-century wooden ceiling in which is inserted the large canvas with the Martyrdom of St. Matthew, the work of Solimene follower Paolo de Majo, dated 1745.

The main altarpiece is s painting of the Madonna in Glory between the Saints Matthew and Andrew, datable to 1610 from the renowned southern Mannerist workshop of Giovan Angelo and Giovan Antonio D’Amato.

To the left of the altar is the 17th-century painting by Sicilian-born painter Michele Ragolia depicting Our Lady of the Rosary.

The church’s artistic heritage features a Crucifix, from the former Monastery of S. Theresa of Campora, a 15th-century masterpiece, a work that is influenced stylistically by the Flemish-Burgundian-trained masters Pietro and Giovanni Alamanno.

Datable between the years 1785 and 1790 is the creation of the wooden group depicting St. Joseph with Child, attributable to a sculptor follower of master Giuseppe Sanmartino.