ITINERARIES – Itinerary 1 (part one)
by Gustavo Cannizzaro

The High Area “Susu”

The starting point for a visit to the Historical Centre of Caulonia has to be Piazza Umberto I, alias Mese. Such a toponym can be clearly deduced from the Greek word “Mesos” (centre, in the middle). Taking a closer look at the town planning, the characteristic medieval town layout springs to the eye. The towns with a certain importance had three ample, open spaces or squares for civil and religious purposes. Caulonia has Piano Baglio up at the top which was the trading centre, Piazza Seggio at the bottom which was  the political centre and between these two there is Piazza Mese, which, even today represents the religious centre with its Chiesa Matrice (this is the square where the suggestive rites of the Holy Week are held).Structurally, the square has an irregular shape, it develops on different levels, which are divided by Via Vincenzo Niutta, and descend towards the bell tower of the Matrice church. Thanks to this layout the square has a pleasing and unusual prospective. On the high area there is an wraught iron fountain dating from the end of the Ottocento set on a contained granite base. Around the perimeter of the square there are clusters of houses and two of the most interesting palaces in Caulonia which belonged to the nobility; one side of the Hyerace palace and the Ottocento facade of the Cricelli palace flanked on one side by the church of the Badia. Recently the road has been paved with Calabrian granite slabs in substitution of the previous cement. At the bottom, the square is closed off by the architectural structure of the Matrice church.

Caulonia

The Matrice church “SS. Maria Assunta”

The architectural structure composed by the church and the bell tower, still today as it was depicted by Pacichelli in his incision dating 1703. As well as being one of the architectural emergencies of the town, is also one of the focal points in the road network thanks to the covered passageway under the bell tower. There is very little information about the construction of the church which was rebuilt in 1513 by Vincenzo Carafa, the second baron of Castelvetere.
The church was probably built on an older one, so over the course of the years it had to undergo various readaptions: in 1637 and after the earthquake in 1783. The tripartite facade with the bell tower leaning against it is an example of spontaneous architecture, while the domes, with the characteristic tiled roofing, are typical of Calabrian sacred constructions belonging to the 1600s and 1700s. they are clearly inspired by more antique models of Byzantine origin and in the style of the Cattolica di Stilo. The construction technique of these domes respect the basilian architectural tradition of which there are still traces in the Matrice church and other buildings such as the old theatre and the ex church of San Leo. Specifically regarding the Matrice church, observing the difference in the levels, the difference in size and also the articulate layout, it seems very probable that some of the domes are not a late reconstruction from the XVII and XVIII centuries, but belong to the original structure from the previous century. The main entrance, built in local granite, is surmounted by the Carafa coat of arms in Carrara marble probably dating from the beginning of the XVIII century. Inside, the church is composed of a nave and two side aisles, divided by six pillars. The ceiling is trussed, following recent restoration work. The XVIII century wooden pulpit is still under the right hand median archway of the nave. The walnut benches sit in the apse where a written note on the high part of it states their being made in 1757 commissioned by the archpriest Annibale Passarelli. Below this rises the first baron of his house, Giacomo Carafa’s funerary monument.

Matrice Church

The monument is sculpted in white marble and follows a linear renaissance architectural style composed of a predella, two architraved pillars and a half moon flanked by two marble bases which used to bear vases. The Vases were transported to the vescovial residence of Gerace towards the end of the 1800s and have subsequently disappeared. The predella holds the traditional depiction of Christ, dead and with the symbols of passion, flanked by two adoring angels. The sarcophagus is between the pillars and above it are three panels one with the Madonna and child, another with Saint Peter and one with Saint Andrew. The half moon contains the Annunciation scene. The heraldic symbols of the Carafa della Spina family are sculpted on the bases of the pillars. From the epitaph inscribed on the sarcophagus we know that the monument was commissioned for Giacomo Carafa, who died in 1489, by his son Vincenzo. Another epitaph from 1637 states that the monument was restored on commission of Girolamo Carafa, IV Marquis of Castelvetere. This monument, whose creator is unknown, follows the renaissance funerary monument’s model which originated in Florence and spread throughout Italy acquiring small variations from region to region. Its conographic structure shows a clear derivation from Neapolitan and Sicillian models.
The decorative parts such as the frieze on the architrave, the candelabrums, the fruit garlands and the weapons in all their refined variations, are a testimonial of great artistic virtue and a rare and refined chiaroscuro which echoes Lombardia style decorations, brought to southern Italy by Domenico Gagini and subsequently widely spread by his son Antonello and his scholars. It is not a chance that the garlands of fruit, flowers and weapons are similar to those by Antonello Gagini and his scholars in the Duomo di Palermo. Also the sculptures belonging to the monument, once multicoloured and golden, have Gagini’s style: the Madonna’s face, smooth and light, with eyes downcast, slight smile and with two strands of hair framing her face. It is similar to the Madonna called “Annunziata” belonging to the Gancia church of Palermo, also sculpted by Antonello around 1516. The same applies for the Annunciation depicted in the half moon, it is similar to that in the Erice museum dating 1525. Finally, the Christ in the predella has close analogies with the “Cristo morto” in the archipriest’s church in Soverato Superiore, traditionally recognised as Gagini’s work. Taking into account all these stylistic traits so similar to those of the Sicilian sculptor between 1516 and 1525, it is possible to take into consideration that the monument belongs to the second half of the XVI century. This finds confirmation in the fact that the church was built between 1513 and 1517, therefor it is possible that the monument was a part of the reconstruction project.The chapel of the Sacred Heart is at the end of the left aisle. It has a balustrade and an altar in blended marble, typical 1700’s taste, created in 1766, commissioned by Vincenzo Sergio, a Castelvetere patrician whose coat of arms are sculpted on the sides of the frontal. Also the vault is of interest, decorated in white, gold and coloured stucco with four panels featuring the evangelists. The entire decoration, which is in great disrepair, is probably the work of local artists of the XIX century. The chapel of Saint Ilarione is in the right aisle and it presents a decoration in golden stucco following the neo gothic taste of the last century. On the right, in a niche, we find the wooden statue of the Patron Saint of Caulonia made by a Serrese artist in 1815. The sculpture must be considered important, apart from its religious connotations, for the historical-cultural aspect it represents. It reminds us how the history of Greek Christianity was followed by Latin Christian rites. Saint Ilarione is an Eastern saint who is celebrated in the Greek Orthodox liturgy on the 21^st of October, the same date as in the Catholic calendar. The followers of the Greek religion would certainly have represented the saint in the shape of an icon, never as a sculpture which is three dimensional (we must remember that Byzantine world fought the iconoclastic wars).It must therefor be underlined that the icon is a hieratic and immaterial representation of the sacred image, while the sculpture, by nature is more corpulent.
The Byzantine world had educated us in the tradition of icons; it was the Normans and the Spaniards who introduced us to the tradition of sculpture. That is why the wooden statue of Saint Ilarione, seen in a syncretic context of ancient and modern rites, assumes an important historical value for us. The church also holds an interesting organ (very damaged) with indipendent resonance boxes, registers with  pommel stay-rods, “window” keyboard and encased pedals. The date of construction,1762, is on the keyboard. This organ, thankfully restored seeing its rarity, could be used to play Renaissance and Baroque music as originally written, without modifications.
Among the silver decorations, the relic arm of saint Ilarione and the calyx and the monstrance are important. The arm was a gift from the Carafa house. Their coat of arms is lightly inscribed in the base also as the family had the “jus patronato” over the church.The sobriety of the object’s decoration reveals the tendency to develop simple shapes and lines which was popular among Neapolitan silversmiths since the first half of the 1600’s.
The calyx was donated to the church by the archpriest A. Passarelli in 1745, the inscription at its base is still visible. This object with a Neapolitan consular piercing inscribed on it is of excellent quality. It is a beautiful sample of Rococo taste with its rich and elegant decorations. The monstrance, commissioned by Vincenzo Maria Carafa in 1804 to a Neapolitan silversmith, was fashioned by hollow casting and chiselling; it was made in the neo-classic period but its style is anchored to the 1700s. Exiting the church, one must walk through the square up to the high area where the entrance of the Badia is found.