Santa maria maggiore - Alatri Italy

The collegiate of Santa Maria Maggiore that dates back to the Fifth century is located on the square that takes its name. It was built on the remains of a pagan temple dedicated to Venus. In the thirteenth century it was completely transformed, and it acquired the Romanesque-Gothic traits still visible today. The outside of the church is characterised by gabled facades, with three gates decorated with painted lunettes. One of the central gates illustrates the Virgin and the Child dating back to the late Fourteenth century, whereas the ones on the sides are now erased. Immediately above the central gate there is a magnificent rose window. The bell tower was added in 1394, as testified by a plaque with the coat of arms of Bonifaz IX. It is characterised by a double order of mullioned windows, with small columns and capitals different for each mullioned window. On the top there are buttresses with crenellated tops.
The inside of the collegiate, simple and minimalist, is composed of three naves. At the end of the central nave, which is articulated by massive pillars on which lie on round arches with interesting chalice capitals and floral frieze, there is a profound quadrangular apse. The lateral naves are different: the one on the right is narrower, is divided in six spans and, at the end of it, there is a small apse whose vault is covered in a golden mosaic. The greater nave on the left has four asymmetric naves and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin of the Libera. From the left nave it is possible to access a series of chapels in which are conserved numerous important art works. The wooden group illustrates the Virgin of Costantinopoli, realised by an anonymous artist from Lazio between the Twelfth and the Thirteenth century. The triptych is composed of three boards; the central one illustrates the “Salvator Mundi” or the Blessing Christ, whereas the two on the sides illustrate the Virgin with the Child and Saint Sebastian. On the right of the presbytery, there is the baptismal font that dates back to 1200. Other works that can be seen today are: the Virgin of Liberty, a fresco from the Fourteenth century located in a chapel at the end of the chapel on the left, the Tabernacle of the Renaissance, a work in marble from the Fifth century composed by an apsal recess on the top of which there is a tympanum. On the inside of the third chapel there is a Filippo Baldi’s painting from 1869 illustrating St. Francis of Paola and Andrea Conti. Near the staircase that leads to the bell tower, there is a fresco, dating back to the last Gothic period, that illustrates a Virgin on the Throne with St Lorenzo. Lastly, there can be admired a reed organ, situated in a recess on the right of the high altare.