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Nino Andreotti Poesia e Storia Fiumefreddo

Bruzio-chiese e torri

MOTHER CHURCH ALSO KNOWN AS SAINT IMMACULATEMARYS CHURCH The recently restored roof and external walls of the Mother Church. On the left edge

of the picture, you can see the main entrance into the town. Photo 2009.

The church was

built in 1540.Fernando Ruiz deAlarcon, marquisDella Valle, iscredited with itsconstruction, infact, he had agenerous natureand a deep

devotion to theVirgin Mary. Thechurch stands nextto the old boundarywalls which havegone to ruin. The 17th century main portal, is handiwork of local skilledcraftsmen and . thebell tower, ( 17th century, too) in early baroque style, isalso work of Calabrian craftsmen. Inthis church there are many masterpieces(see page 136, note 1), among which we admire an altar piece by Pasqualetti(famous painter who was born in Fiumefreddo Bruzio on the 25 th of February

1699, and died on the 30th of August 1757 see page 144), depicting the Virginof the Carmine, a wooden Cross of the ninth century and a Madonna withthe Child, by Pietro Negroni (1556). The church has one bigcentral nave. In1638 the church was tumbling down because of a violent earthquake. It wasrestored but, some years later, the church was partially rebuilt, for thisreason it shows different architectural styles.

Fiumefreddo Bruzio.Motherchurch.

Photo 2009

The choirand the oldorgan(whichdoesntwork anymore),consistingof a smallnumber of

pipes, supplied with compressed air from bellows.

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Mother church, the magnificent dome overthe high altar.

CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS(Known as La Madonnella)

The church dates from the 11th century. It met the spiritual needs of a greatnumber of families living in the neighbourhood of the place which, little bylittle, became the town of Frigidum.(Later on called Flumen Frigidum, thenFiumefreddo.To the name Fiumefreddo has beenadded the adjective Bruzio, since 1860.)In the thirteenth century was built the

bell tower on the left of the presbytery,and in the second half of thefourteenth century, on the front-top ofthe tower, was placed a mechanicalhammer clock. Today we admire onlyits carrying structure, because the

Fiumefreddo Bruzio, La Madonnella.clock isnt working any more A fresco by unknown artist.( see page 105 Orologio dellAddolorata).In the nineteenth century this churchwas restored on the inside, but, the churchhas been in a very dangerous process of decline, lately.Restoration work on all the churchesof Fiumefreddo, has just begun at last; lets hope it will come to an endas soon as possible, in order to enjoy again our fathers artistry andappreciate their expertness.

The pulpit: wonderful stucco work made by Calabrianplasterers.

The portal of the church

THE ABBEY OF SANTAMARIA DI FONTE LAURATO

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The abbey lies three kilometers north-east of Fiumefreddo, in a green, grassyvalley called Badia, at the foot of Timpa Badia and near the source of ariver of pure and freshwater. At the beginning ofthe ninth century, in the

place which nowadays iscalled Badia, the Basilianmonks built a church anddedicated it to SaintDomenica. The churchwas situated next to acenoby which was builtlong before. This oldcenoby, was passed on tothe Benedictines, who

owned it until the year1035.The church and thecenoby, for unknown The front of the abbey of Fonte Laurato with narthex entrance

into the church. This abbey became the second Mother HouseThe Abbey church, high altar: a deteriorated, old oil of the Congregation of the florensi founded by Gioacchino da Fiore

painting on a wooden board. and approved by Pope Celestino III, in 1196.

reasons, were neglected for a long timeand, therefore, they fell to ruin.Simon Mamistra, governor of Calabria and

ruler of Fiumefreddo, in the year 1201made a donation of the church and of thecenoby, supplied with property, toJoachim of Fiore, where the abbot, onrequest and with the help of Mamistra,built a new religious building, calledabbey ofFonte Laurato. The appellativeSanta Maria was added to worship theVirgin Mary. This abbey became the

second mother house of the FlorenseCongregation.Today we notice the traces of the maincloister, the dormitory, the refectory, the

herb garden. At the end of the seventeenth century, the abbey was given tothe order of the Cistercians.A Cistercian bell tower, with a Byzantine Cross, overlooks the sacredbuilding.

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Theres a porch, a narthexstructure forming a coveredapproach to the entrance of thechurch.The interior of the church is simple

and austere: one broad navewithout ceiling, so that you can seethe roof supported by a woodenstructure. The church consists ofone main apse made of tuff stonesand, at the sides, of two small,secondary apses. The High Altar isin baroque style and, above thealtar, theres an old picture of A woodencarved pulpit. Artistic hand-workthe Virgin. by local woodcarvers.

The abbey was suppressed on the13th of February 1807, as a consequenceof the Calabrian antinapoleonic revolution (1806/1807), and, in 1813, Camilloand Clemente Mazzarone bought the abbey : today, the heirs take care of it.

Fiumefreddo Bruzio, Badia.The abbey of Fonte Laurato lies at the foot ofTimpa di Badia, surrounded by trees and green grass.

Fiumefreddo Bruzio,Badia.An old wooden crucifix in the Abbey church.

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