Built in 1447 and restored several times along the centuries, the parish Church of Santa Reparata (or Liberata), still maintains its beautiful Renaissance structure from its façade to the finely sculpted entrance door set on the side. The church foundation is the result of a vow by which the people of Casoli asked the protection of Santa Reparata against an epidemic.

Like a basilica, it has three naves and a triumphal arch before the apse dating 1539 and finely decorated with white stone flower relieves framing the altar of Santa Reparata, which is also decorated with low relief. A niche shields an exquisite XVIII century statue of the Saint protector of Casoli, celebrated on 8 October each year.

A precious triptych by Antonio di Francesco di Tommaso da Fossombrone, an artist of the school of Crivelleschi, dated 1506, pictures Santa Reparata between two praying angels; the Saint was a martyr during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Decio in 250 a.D.. On the counterfaçade is a commemorative plaque of the first stone laid on All Saints’ Day feast in 1447.

On November 1943 the church was partially bombed and the precious seventeenth-century ceiling coffer, golden and carved was totally destroyed, while the altars of the apostles San Filippo and San Giacomo and their 1600 statues were saved from the ruins and restored in 1952.

More recently, some local artists have painted “Saint Pious X”, “Mary Help of Christians”, “Baptism of Christ” “The Supper at Emmaus” and a “Deposition”; those canvasses enrich the most cherished church in Casoli.

[Credits | Text: Ottavio Di Renzo De Laurentis | Translation: Mirella Rapa | Voice and music: Studio Qreate | Photo: Laura Di Biase]