Chiesa della Madonna del Lume

The Chiesa della Madonna del Lume or di San Mattia dates back to around 1460 and was the seat of the ancient Congregation of the Clergy of San Gaetano, which was established in 1641 with the aim of elevating the spiritual, moral and cultural education of the Grottagliesi, in whose school San Francesco de Geronimo was also educated. The church was owned by the Antoglietta Bucci family and was donated to the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus on July 10, 1939 by Mrs. Isabella Pepe, heir to the owning family.\n\nThe church has an incomplete facade in which a curious octagonal window in the shape of an overturned octopus stands out; on either side of the portal there are two niches, carved into the wall, with statues of San Gaetano and San Andrea Avellino.\n\nThe interior is decorated in a lavish 18th-century Baroque style by the artist Nicolaus Coviello between 1720 and 1740 and features, in addition to the central main altar, six side altars. On the main altar, an oil painting representing the Madonna del Lume, painted by Coviello himself, is proudly displayed.\n\nInside the church is housed the statue of the Madonna Desolata, which is carried in procession on Good Friday during the Riti della Settimana Santa grottagliese by members of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. On Carnival day and on the day of the commemoration of the dead, Holy Mass is celebrated inside the church in suffrage of deceased sisters and brothers. On the Friday and Saturday preceding the fifth Sunday of Lent, the veneration of the Virgin Desolata, with the contemplation of the seven sorrows of Mary, is carried out inside the church.