the museums of aprigliano

I spend the first part of my trip to Calabria in Aprigliano staying with my cousins. And while there I got to visit all the small churches and chapels. One morning after my visit to L'Immacolata chapel in Agosto, my cousin Tonina and I were talking and she made an excellent point - the small chapels and churches with their murals, paintings and statues are the museums of Aprigliano. In each of these small chapels are the artifacts of painters, muralists and sculptors who created art away from the studios of Florence, Rome, Venice and Milano. It is primitive art, but beautiful in its simplicity, its geometry, its colors.

Seven of the chapels and churches are featured in the following pages. I begin with Santo Stefano, San Rocco, and La Madonna di Portosalvo. These chapels made up my family's parish in Aprgliano. They were the churches and chapels I attended with my family 50 years ago. L'Immacolata is in Agosto, the smallest frazione in the Crati valley. In Corte, the churches of San Leonardo, San Nicola, and La Madonna delle Timpe will be featured. La Madonna delle Timpe page has an audio file. In ealry August, for seven days, a small group met every morning at 6:00 to walk to La Madonna delle Timpe while praying the rosary - the audio file. The parish church of San Demetrio in La Grupa complete this set.(The thumbnail points to the large image.)