MIGLIONICO

In the town centre is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary – Santa Maria Maggiore – where you can admire frescoes and sculptures worthy of note. Among them stands out the beautiful polyptych by Cima da Conegliano dated 1499 made up of 18 paintings with is a small wooden statue of the Virgin on a throne with the Christ Child and St. John the Baptist at the centre. At the top of a cliff stands is the castle – Castello del Malconsiglio – that dominates the whole area. This complex is imposing in size and has seven watch towers placed at regular intervals. It gets its name from conspiracy of the barons against Ferdinand the Catholic in 1485 which ended in a massacre, which took place in the halls of the castle. The building is a combination of styles from different epochs, conferring to the castle its unusual appearance and charm. The construction of the castle is attributed to Sanseverino, although in the High Middle Ages a fortress had already stood there. An open gallery was added on by Revertera in the 17thC when the manor was turned into the place of residence for the baron. At a short distance from the town centre is the Church of the Holy Trinity, near the new seat of the Town Hall. It is a lovely tiny church with a pyramid-shaped cusp. The interior, which may be seen through the window above the entrance door, was entirely decorated in the mid-1400s by the Maestro from Miglionico. In the apse there is a Scene of the Crucifixion and one of the Annunciation and above is a Holy Trinity. To the right and left of the apse a series of saints and the Holy Trinity depicted as a three-headed figure.