07 – NEWSSTAND OF THE CRUCIFIX

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Via Old Square

The crucifixion in metal foil painted at the end of the 19th century by an unknown artist but in a good hand, has well-finished details.

The niche, at the top right of the photo, equipped with a small glass door, contains a painting on a metal plate depicting the passion of Christ on Calvary. Our Lady of Sorrows, in particular, at the foot of the cross of Christ, would appear to be a pregnant woman who turns her pitying gaze to the Son of God who dies for the salvation of men. On the occasion of its cleaning, a country landscape came out showing a sort of castle with crenellated towers. The newsstand of the Crucifix still bears witness to how those buildings facing via Piazza Vecchia, largely rebuilt around 1910, and now distinguished by the house numbers 22/26, were places of Christian piety, given that the hospital once stood of the poor, or a sort of hospice for the shelter of the poor, pilgrims and wayfarers, with some cots for the sick. The institution of the hospital was very ancient since it is mentioned in an ancient document of the chapter archive of San Leone, datable to the first decade of the 16th century. Furthermore, right nearby, and in the adjoining alley, there was the "wheel" of the foundlings, a contraption built into the masonry of that pious place, which was used to house abandoned infants, the so-called "children of guilt".

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