Take the statue of the Monco as a reference (all the people of Senigallia will know where it is) once you are in front of it and take the road to the right, you will come across a church with a brick façade in late Renaissance style rather austere and anonymous. Enter and you will immediately change your mind!
The interior is a riot of Baroque, with six altars and a superb. Designed by the ducal architect Muzio Oddi, the church was consecrated in 1608 on behalf of the Confraternity of the Sacrament and the Cross, active in assisting the most needy. The original idea was in fact to make an oratory for the confraternity, and its structure is more reminiscent of a hall than a church.
The decorations are admirable, including stucco, gold, six side altars and the unusual coffered ceiling, a masterpiece of nuances between gold and bronze. This small and precious church contains many works of art including an authentic jewel: the Altarpiece painted by Federico Barocci in 1592 representing The Burial of Christ. The painting depicts Christ brought to the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, almost an ideal continuation of the "Deposition", previously painted for the Cathedral of Perugia. In the background Mount Calvary and the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino.
Pay attention to the figures represented, one of the main ones is a beautiful Magdalene whose history is strongly linked to the city of Senigallia. One of her relics seems to have been brought by a princess as dowry for her marriage to a Senigallian. The relic became so famous that it attracted so many people that a Fiera Franca was born. The Fiera della Maddalena, (today the Fiera di Sant’Agostino) is still held at the end of August.
Among the side altars, the one dedicated to Santa Barbara stands out, with two cannon barrels framing the painting of the saint, patron saint, among other things, of bombers who had a training school at the Rocca Roveresca.
There is also a fine organ built by Gaetano Callido in 1775 and still in working order.
