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Church of St Nicholas of Bari in Pozzaglia Sabina: the remains of two saints
Located in the historic centre of Pozzaglia Sabina, a village in the Sabini Mountains in the Turano Valley, the Church of San Nicola di Bari has been documented since at least the 15th century. It houses the remains of two saints: St Agostina Pietrantoni, born in the village in 1864, a nurse killed by a violent patient in 1894 and canonised by John Paul II in 1999; and St Ulpia Candida Martyr, the town's patron saint, whose relics arrived here in the 18th century, likely through a papal initiative.
The Interior at a glance
Upon entering, the focal point is the Crucifixion fresco, dating to the mid-16th century, located in the apse. Christ on the cross is flanked by St Nicholas and a pope identified as St Gregory the Great. On either side of the fresco are two of the four original columns of an ancient baldachin (ciborium), which according to local tradition was modelled after the one in St Peter's Basilica. On the altar stands a 17th-century wooden tabernacle, restored in gold leaf. In the right chapel, there is a statue of St Anthony of Padua, and a marble bust of an anonymous lady. Near the entrance, a 17th-century wooden Madonna rests in a niche. Mosaics, including the Madonna del Berremo and that of St Joseph, add to an interior whose decorative scheme is far more intricate than its exterior.
