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Church of Madonna del Carmelo

Typology: convent church
Chronology: XV-XVII century
The Church of Madonna del Carmelo (now a private home) is enlarged on XVII century and related to the Opera Pia Salamandra, which was unharmed by the earthquake on 1703 , and preserves decorated doorposts and the convex lintel, with the inscription "DEIPARE VIRG. CARM. SACRVM "(Consecrated to the Virgin of Carmine Mother of God).
The Church of Madonna del Carmelo (now a private home) is enlarged on XVII century and related to the Opera Pia Salamandra, which was unharmed by the earthquake on 1703 , and preserves decorated doorposts and the convex lintel, with the inscription "DEIPARE VIRG. CARM. SACRVM "(Consecrated to the Virgin of Carmine Mother of God). The Church of Carmine, or the Church of Madonna del Carmelo of Monteleone di Spoleto, and the convent rooms are transformed into a private residence in the late twentieth century. It conserves the jambs with plant motifs and the convex lintel with the inscription "DEIPARE VIRG. CARM. SACRVM" (Consecrated to the Virgin of Carmine Mother of God).

Already existing in the fifteenth century, it was enlarged in 1604 by D. Gentile Piersanti, who founded the Society of Conception. Unharmed after the earthquake of 1703, it was used for a decade as a parish church. There are three altars: the main entitled to the Virgin (The Dressed Lady of the eighteenth century preserved in San Francis cathedral) and the others to St. Anthony and St. Charles, erected by Antonio Piersanti and Antonelli family. The church is linked to the practice of the Charity of the Virgin of Carmine or Opera Pia Salamandra, active until the first half of the nineteenth century, fostered by the Carmelite Salvatore Salamandra (Monteleone di Spoleto, 1570 - Rome, 1648) with charitable purposes and maintenance of buildings.
The church, which rises in San Nicola district, exactly in Via degli Orti, is placed in one of the most beautiful place of Pago. The building (with the convent rooms), desecrated, sold and turned into a private residence in the second half of the twentieth century, preserves in the main facade the ancient carved stone entrance portal, formed by big jambs decorated with plant motifs. On the lintel there is the following dedication: "DEIPARE VIRG. CARM. SACRVM " (Consecrated to the Virgin of Carmine Mother of God). The door and the inscription preserve the original red (for the elements in relief) and the black coloration (for the hatching of the letters). The text also notes the trace of an obvious error of the writrer who, in a first draft, writes the word "sacrom" instead of "sacrum". There is no information about its origins, although in the fifteenth century the structure already exists and equipped with a frescoed hall. After the conversion into residential use, a few fragments of frescoes on the left side of the prospectus, were removed by  Cardinal Egidio Vagnozzi (1906-1980).
In the Seventeenth century, the church is under the patronage of Piersanti family, together with Antonelli and Salamandra families, and is the headquarter of the Confraternity of Carmel. In 1604 has been restored and enlarged by D. Gentile Piersanti, who founded the Company of the Immaculate Conception.
It includes three altars, the main one dedicated to the Holy Virgin, whose processional statue of the eighteenth century (The Dressed Lady, with its attributes of Carmel) is now kept in St. Francis cathedral, and the two side altars, dedicated to St. Anthony and St. Charles, respectively erected under the will of Antonio Piersanti and Antonelli family (who adds a legacy for the distribution of bread to the poor and for the alms of seven young maids). The reverend Carmelite Fr. Salvatore Salamandra decides, by deed dated on 26th  March 1637, to equip the complex of goods and incomes necessary for its maintenance, entrusted to a joint operation under the care of Grandonio Rossi. In 1651 the roof is rebuilt, along with other restoration works, while the commission composed of D. Joseph Niccolis, Giuseppe Salvatori, Isidoro Ciocchittus and the Rev. John D. Salvatori try to persuade the Card. Facchinetti, Bishop of Spoleto, for the election of a new chaplain and for the preservation of the heritage of Salamandra family.
It is the only sacred building remained unharmed after the strong earthquake of January 1703. The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, during its slow recovery and the restoration work of St. Nicola, is used for the parish for ten years, and a little further until 1713. During the holy visit of Lascaris Bishop on October 4th, 1712, the “Church of the Virgin of Carmel" is governed by the cleric Carlo Piersanti and described as it follows: "It has two doors, a bell tower with a single bell of average weight, and inside four altars dedicated to the Virgin, to St. Anthony of Padua, St. Charles and St. Anne (...) ".
The Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Monteleone di Spoleto or Opera Pia Salamandra is Linked to the church, of which there is a wide documentation in the municipal historic archive, with documents covering a period from the foundation 1637 to 1937. It was born from the donation of Carmelite priest Salvatore Salamandra, whose purpose is to establish a fund for public administration, in order to do charities and to ensure the maintenance of buildings and the continuity of church services in the homonymous Church. Salvatore Salamandra was born in Monteleone around in 1570, he moved to Rome still young, in the Church of San Girolamo, where he died at the age of 78 years (17 May 1648). "An enlighten man in guiding the souls to perfection", confessor of P. Giacomo Celestino, of whom he writes about his life for the Charity Congregation. After his death the Carmelite Fathers of the Roman house make a portrait of him in order to have him always present as an example of perfection. The Opera Pia Salamandra uses income (derived from the census and from a the public debt portfolio) to maintain the statutory purposes. It remains active until the first half of the nineteenth century, but the official date of its dissolution is ignored. After the Italian Unity, the Institute is confiscated by the local congregation Charity, for adjustment to the Royal Decree of 3rd  August 1862, and subsequently by the Municipal Assistance Institution (E.C.A.), by virtue of the law of June 3rd , 1937 n. 847.