In Piano di Sorrento, at the end of Via Cavone, is the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, built in 1543 as one of the many estaurites of the Sorrento Peninsula.
The “
estaurites
” were places of worship built for popular devotion and administered independently by the promoters of the construction, becoming their“patrons.”
These patrons , therefore, enjoyed the ancient institution of juspatronage, that is, the right to be able to appoint the priest/parish priest, whose livelihood they would provide.
The foundation and birth of the Archconfraternity.
The church was founded by the De Pol io (present-day Pollio) and Califanofamilies, who purchased land belonging to the Holy Trinity Monastery in Sorrento to build the church.
It was aggregated almost instantaneously with St. John Lateran in Rome, thus rising to Basilica status.
Since 1573, the church has housed the oratory of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims and Convalescents.
In 1577 it joined the Archconfraternity of the same name in Rome , founded in 1548 by St. Philip Neri, rising to the rank of archconfraternity.
It also acquired the title of the oldest Archconfraternity of Piano di Sorrento and, almost certainly, of the Sorrento Peninsula.
The brethren of the time were inspired by the Christian values of charity and relief for the underprivileged and the sick, as well as offering shelter to pilgrims from the major destinations of Christianity.
Today, the Archconfraternity is mainly concerned with the preparation and exit of the two Red Processions on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
The church and its paintings
The building has aLatin cross plan, a coffered ceiling, and prominent 18th-century paintings, including the Holy Trinity attributed to Neapolitan painter Paolo de Matteis.
In the nave, behind the high altar, is the wooden choir and a majestic painting of the Holy Trinity by artist Giuseppe Mancinelli, dated 1871.
In the left aisle are two canvases depicting the Resurrection and St. Andrew the Apostle, works by the early 17th-century Venetian Leandro Bassano;
In addition, there is a 17th-century painting of the Virgin and Child with St. Francis by Lavinia Fontana of Bologna.
In the right aisle, however, is the fine chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary.
A panel with predella depicting Our Lady of the Rosary crowned by two angels and saints, attributed to Giovan Bernardo Azzolini, is kept here.
The link between the parish and Our Lady of the Rosary.
Popular tradition has it that the wooden table came from the medieval St. Peter’s Abbey, then located in the hillside area of the same name.
Every year, on the evening of June 24, the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary is carried in procession to remain for several days in the chapel of St. Peter located in the gardens of Colonna Castle.
On the evening of June 29, again in procession, the statue from there returns to its place in the Basilica.
This beautiful tradition underscores theancient bond between the Trinity and St. Peter’s Hills communities;
this corroborates the thesis that it is from the lost Abbey of St. Peter that the cult for the Virgin of the Rosary and, perhaps, the very religiosity of Trinity and all of Piano di Sorrento was born.
Villa Fondi
Villa Fondi De Sagro, commonly called Villa Fondi, is an actual national museum in the heart of Piano di Sorrento, from which it is possible
Basilica of San Michele
The Basilica of San Michele represents a focal point around which, over the centuries, the ancient farmhouse of Carotto developed. It certainly is one of