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Church of the Most Holy Saviour in Collepardo: Pieces of the Lateran in a Village in the Ernici Mountains
The Chiesa del SS. Salvatore (Church of the Most Holy Saviour) is the parish church of Collepardo, a village in the Ernici Mountains in the province of Frosinone. The patron here is not a saint but Jesus the Saviour, quite rare in Italy. The church has an equally singular history: the portal and a holy-water stoup come from the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano (St John Lateran) in Rome, which had been damaged by two fires. They were brought here by Pope Martin V Colonna, who in the 15th century ordered the rebuilding of the church.
A church documented since the Middle Ages
A church in Collepardo is mentioned as early as the 10th and 11th centuries, and again in a document of 1252. The present building, however, is the result of works begun in 1598. It was consecrated on 9 November 1619. The interior is divided into three naves with barrel vaults, supported by columns of dressed stone. In the 17th century, during a severe plague, the columns and arches were coated with plaster: the same fate befell the frescoes that adorned the church.
The painting of Lepanto and fragments of the Cross
The most interesting artwork is in the right nave: a painting celebrating the Battle of Lepanto (1571), depicting Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Pius V and Marcantonio Colonna, commander of the papal fleet. Ties with the Colonna family can be seen everywhere in this church. On the altar, in a reliquary case, are two fragments that tradition attributes to the True Cross, donated by the family. In the baptistery, 16th-century frescoes survive, damaged but still visible, depicting St Charles Borromeo, St Catherine of Siena, St Philomena.
