Chiesa di Santa Maria e i XII Apostoli

Very beautiful church

Bagnara calabra. Beautiful not only the church

Historical News 1082 - 1117 (origins of the surrounding church) Abbey commissioned by Ruggero d'Altavilla and consecrated on 13 October 1117. Established as a fortified complex placed on a massive base, of which a trace still remains, which was accessed from the ground through a drawbridge. Richard the Lionheart stayed there at the end of the 12th century. during the third crusade. Description The abbey church, the mother church of the ancient center of Bagnara, is a building of considerable historical and artistic interest, protected under the single text on cultural heritage of 2004. Located in the heart of the historic center, it is located at the top of a wide staircase that connects it to the lower area and overlooks a street with a large viewpoint which is the Villa Comunale. The main access is raised above the street level, while the side entrances allow you to reach the middle part of the liturgical hall on the level. The main façade, in an eclectic style, develops on a single order and is tripartite, with the central part surmounted by a pediment framed between two bell towers with round arch openings and composite domes. In the center a curvilinear tympanum with the Marian coat of arms inserted as the base of the statue of the Madonna Assunta. The inscription in relief "ASSUMPTA EST MARIA IN COELUM" runs horizontally on the line of the straight entablature, in the central part, by two circular columns in relief with alternating decorated drums and with Corinthian capital, which frame the single central entrance door inserted in a molded frame and surmounted by a round arch, inside which stands the bas-relief sculpture of the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit who hovered over the Virgin and the twelve apostles gathered in the cenacle. On the sides, three niches on each side. The interior has a single nave with eight chapels on either side.