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The Church of Purgatory in Terracina: the Skeleton on the Façade and the Town's Only Centrally Planned Church
At the top of a stairway leading to Corso Anita Garibaldi, in Terracina, the Church of Purgatory is recognised by a detail that leaves no room for doubt: a carved skeleton holding a scroll positioned at the summit of the late Baroque façade. A memento mori that immediately declares the purpose of the building, constructed in the 18th century and completed in 1787 on the remains of the medieval church of San Nicola (St Nicholas).
The Confraternity of the Good Death
The church was founded as the seat of the Confraternity (or Brotherhood) of the Good Death, an institution established in Rome in 1538. Its task was one of the most concrete works of Christian “mercy” of those centuries: providing burials for the poor, those who would otherwise have been left unburied. Its Motto was: hodie mihi cras tibi — today to me, tomorrow to you. In Terracina the confraternity had already been operating for decades from a previous seat, but moved here in 1787.
Square on the Outside, Circular on the Inside
This is the only centrally planned church in Terracina, the only late-Baroque one, and the only one with a parvis. From the outside, the façade appears square, but inside the space is circular: a small late-Baroque optical trick. Three elliptical windows on the façade represent the Trinity. At the top, the pediment has undulating lines and stucco decorations, while the pagoda-style bell tower, having a very distinctive stepped cone, rises above the dome. On the inside are skulls with crossed bones and the inscription "Holy and just is the thought for the dead". In documents the church is also called "of the Suffrages". Today it is open for worship only on rare occasions.
