Mother Church of Saints Peter and Paul

The temple of the Mother Church, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, è an important religious building located in Pisticci, Basilicata. Its construction è occurred on the site of an earlier religious building dating back to the 13th century, of which only the bell tower remains. The temple was built by master masons Antonio and Pietro La Viola, originally from Lombardy, between 1540 and 1550. These master masons took refuge in Pisticci to escape an arrest warrant, accused of murder. The Mother Church building has a grand appearance, with a Romanesque-style facade and a double-pitched roof. The interior of the church has a Latin cross plan and presents a division into three naves with side chapels and altars in Baroque style. Beneath the altars are a series of hypogea, which from the second half of the 16th century were used as burial places for the clergy and faithful. Over the centuries, the temple of the Mother Church è has undergone various renovations and beautification. Inside the church are valuable paintings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, belonging to the Neapolitan school. Among them are some Caravaggio-style canvases attributed to Domenico Guarino, from the 18th century, including those representing the “Madonna del Carmine” and the “Madonna del Pozzo” and others depicting the “Mysteries of the Rosary”.This description confirms the historical and artistic importance of the Mother Church in Pisticci, and highlights its architectural evolution over the centuries.