Offida Church of the Addolorata sec. XV

Church of the Addolorata sec.  XV

Near the Town Hall is the church of the Addolorata.  The construction was built in the century.  XV.

The facade is characterized by a portico above which, leaning against the wall, there are two elegant sixteenth-century stone windows.

Higher up, there is a large occhialone surmounted by a tympanum with terracotta friezes and a domed bell tower.  The interior, with a single nave, has a ceiling decorated by the painter S. Nardi di Fermo (1866-1924).

The relief painting is the central one depicting "the Virgin of Sorrows surrounded by Saints".  On the apse stands a gilded wooden altar, surmounted by a small temple that houses the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Inside the church there is the "Bara" (this is commonly called the chariot with canopy where the statue of the Dead Christ is placed) which is triumphantly carried in procession on the evening of Good Friday.

The procession is to be considered linked to a tradition of the ancient medieval brotherhoods.

The current "Bara" made its first appearance in the Good Friday procession of 1870 and replaced the old hand litter in operation since 1819.  Names of Jesus and Mary, in 1868, they had entrusted to prof.  Alcide Allevi the task of drafting the project and Mr.  Lorenzo Mancini of Ascoli Piceno to take care of the decorations.  For the execution of the silver embroidery there was a real competition between the young women of Offida, as handed down by our ancestors, who, under the guidance of Mrs. Aloisa Donati, helped the Benedictine nuns in the delicate task.