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Church of Maria Santissima Assunta in Cielo: Roman Baroque in the heart of the Sabina
On the main square of Cantalupo in Sabina, barely an hour from Rome, beside Palazzo Cesi-Camuccini, stands the Church of Maria Santissima Assunta in Cielo (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), a fine example of late Roman Baroque. Built in the 18th century according to a design attributed to Francesco Rosa under the supervision of Carlo Fontana, it has an oval plan, unusual for a village of this size. The single nave ends in a semicircular apse, where the high altar, with columns of green cipollino marble and Corinthian capitals, bears the coat of arms of the Ricci family, a noble house that is now extinct.
The interior: marble and painting
Behind the altar, a painting dated 1753 depicts the Virgin Mary Assumed into Heaven with St Blaise, patron saint of the village. On either side of the nave are two small chapels; on the right side is a 17th-century tabernacle in marble and bronze with small columns and arches decorated with festoons. Ten windows provide light to the interior. The red brick floor, relaid during the most recent restoration, has unfortunately covered the ancient funerary slabs containing inscriptions.
The processional float
The church continues to have one of the most elaborate processional floats (Macchine Processionali) in the Sabina region: a decorated wooden structure on which the statue of the Virgin is placed and carried on the shoulders of the faithful during the procession of 15 August each year.
