Sergio Feola Photographer - Campania Felix

2021

Teano, the Cathedral. Left side chapel

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

2017

Pietrelcina (BN), church of Santa Maria degli Angeli

Santa Maria degli Angeli, parish church of Pietrelcina, preserves the polychrome wooden statue of the Neapolitan school of the end of the seventeenth century depicting the Madonna della Libera, patron saint of Pietrelcina, which Padre Pio affectionately calls "our Madonnella". In this church Fra Pio began his apostolate and, having obtained the diaconate, he administered the first baptism to a child who later became a Redemptorist priest. In this regard it is said that Padre Pio put so much salt, that the newborn, opening his little mouth, squinted his eyes - "smerzava l`uocchie" - words of Brother Pio, who frightened ran to the archpriest Don Salvatore Pannullo, saying: " I killed the child ”. On the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption, on 14 August 1910, four days after being ordained a priest, Padre Pio celebrated his first mass. A few days later he wrote to Father Benedetto of San Marco in Lamis: "For several days I was a little sick; perhaps the main cause of this was the too much emotion to which the spirit has been subject in these days… my heart is overflowing with joy and it feels stronger and stronger to encounter any affliction, when it comes to pleasing Jesus ”. In this church Padre Pio had interminable moments of prayer and intimacy with God, ecstasy at the foot of the altar, and the mystical phenomenon of the fusion of hearts: "The heart of Jesus and mine, allow me the expression, were no longer two hearts that beat, but only one. My heart was gone, like a drop of water that gets lost in the sea ”. And again: "I feel everything burn without fire ... a thousand flames consume me, I feel I am dying continuously and still alive". Padre Pio celebrated masses in this church that were "too long" and "incomprehensible mystery" so much so that the guardian father had asked the parish priest to recall him in his mind, because in this way he would immediately obey him out of holy obedience.

2017

Military memorial of Mignano Montelungo

The military shrine of Mignano Montelungo is a military cemetery located in Campania, which contains the remains of 974 Italian soldiers, of which 784 who died during the Second World War in the battles of Montelungo and Cassino [1], while the rest come from the old cemetery of war of Mignano. Near Mignano Monte Lungo, between 8 and 16 December 1943, there was a battle between Italian regular units and the German army, in the liberation war of southern Italy. Built on the eastern slopes of Mount Lungo, it is about two kilometers from the municipality of Mignano Monte Lungo, in the province of Caserta, along the Via Casilina on the border with Lazio and Molise. From the entrance gate a staircase leads to the main building, at the center of which there is the main altar in dark marble, with a statue of a dying soldier, the work of the artist Pietro Canonica. On both sides the structure has a portico built in white marble. On the side of the altar there are two tombstones: one is dedicated to General Vincenzo Dapino, while on the other is the text of the congratulatory telegram from General Mark Clark to Dapino himself, for the victorious battle. The portico bears the inscription MORTUI UT PATRIA VIVAT and on the side of the access staircase, arranged in rows with shelves sloping towards the entrance, 784 soldiers who died fighting with the Italian Liberation Corps and with the Folgore Combat Groups, Legnano are buried , Mantua, Friuli and Cremona. Each tomb is marked with a white marble cross with the name carved on the tombstone. On the last shelf is the tomb of General Umberto Utili. Also on the side of the staircase there are two stone bases on which two flagpoles with the flags of the Combat Groups are placed. On the hill, on the vertical of the staircase, there is a bronze statue of the Immaculate Madonna. In the square of the Shrine, with a ray of orientation, the various locations where the various fights took place are indicated. In front of the Memorial, on the other side of Via Casilina, a small museum has been set up where it is possible to view various documents, photographs, relics and weapons of the time, outside it there are tanks and Italian artillery pieces and British employed in the battle.

2022

Caserta, the Royal Palace. The park.

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a royal residence, historically belonging to the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, located in Caserta. Commissioned by Charles of Bourbon, the laying of the first stone, which started the construction work, took place on January 20, 1752, based on a project by Luigi Vanvitelli: this was followed by his son Carlo and other architects. The palace was completed in 1845.

2021

Teano. The Dome. Exteriors

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

2020

Teano. The Cathedral. Left side chapel

The cathedral, originally dedicated to San Terenziano, was later named after San Clemente. Construction began in 1050 by Bishop Guglielmo, to replace the old cathedral of San Paride ad Fontem, located outside the city walls. The works were completed in 1116 by Bishop Pandulfo. The building has a basilica structure divided into three naves by two rows of columns. In 1608 it was damaged internally by a fire that almost completely destroyed the cosmates ambo, subsequently recomposed using the remains of the previous one integrated with the marble slabs of a fourteenth-century sepulchral monument already present in the church and positioned on twisted columns, two of which rested on fountain lions. During the 16th century the Romanesque apse was modified and on that occasion a precious carved wooden choir was built in the presbytery, built in 1539 by the Benedictine Antonio Maria Sertorio. The choir underwent two restorations, the first in the 17th century and the second in 1957, following the damage suffered during the Second World War.

2021

Francolise, Santa Maria a Castello

2008

Benedictine Abbey of S. Angelo in Formis

The church, dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, rises along the western slope of Mount Tifata. Initially in the documents the building is indicated as ad arcum Dianae ("at the arch of Diana"), recalling that it stood above the remains of the temple dedicated to this divinity, while later it is referred to with the denominations ad Formas , Informis or in Formis. The etymological interpretation of the new name is controversial: on the one hand, the hypothesis is that it derives from the Latin term forma ("aqueduct"), and that it indicates the proximity of a conduit or aquifer; while on the other hand the term is considered derived from the word informis ("formless", and therefore "spiritual"). The remains of the Roman temple were found in 1877, and it has been noted that the basilica retraces its perimeter, adding the apses at the end of the aisles. The first construction of the basilica can be traced back to the Lombard period, on the basis of the widespread diffusion of the cult of the archangel Michael among the Lombards at the end of the sixth century. At the time of the bishop of Capua Pietro I (925-938), the church was donated to the monks of Montecassino, who wanted to build a monastery there. The church was then taken from the monks and given back to them in 1072 by the prince of Capua, Riccardo. The then abbot Desiderio di Montecassino (the future Pope Victor III) decided to rebuild the basilica (1072 - 1087) and still respected the architectural elements of pagan origin. To him we owe the frescoes of the Byzantine-Campanian school that decorate the interior and which constitute one of the most important and best preserved pictorial cycles of the time in southern Italy. The reconstruction of the portico in front of the church, with new frescoes, and a reconstruction of the bell tower following a collapse have been attributed to the 12th century

2017

Casertavecchia, the Cathedral

The church, dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, stands in a medieval village of Lombard origin located on the top of a hill, at 401 meters on the slopes of the Tifatini Mountains. The town is a hilly hamlet located about 10 kilometers from the capital and is today called "Caserta vecchia" or Casertavecchia but in the Middle Ages simply "Caserta" (originally Casa Hirta) before the name passed to the center on the plain (previously called Torri, then Caserta new and finally Caserta). Casertavecchia was an important fortified center, the seat of a Lombard county, later Norman, and the seat of a diocese, after the destruction, in the early Middle Ages, of the ancient episcopal seat of Calatia (near the current Maddaloni).

2022

Roccamonfina. Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Lattani.

Roccamonfina. Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Lattani. It is located on the Monte dei Lattani, 850 m. above sea level, one of the many craters of the vast volcanic area of Roccamonfina.

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