San Filippo Neri, Spoleto

San Filippo Neri is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Spoleto, in the province of Perugia, region of Umbria, Italy. Begun in 1640 using designs by Loreto Scelli and consecrated in 1724, the church features a baroque façade with varied tympani over the doors and windows. The verticality is accentuated by corinthian pilasters. The interior houses paintings by Gaetano Lapis, Sebastiano Conca, Pietro Labruzzi and Francesco Refini. Hidden behind its walls is a secret cemetery, contributing to its air of the macabre.

Inside the church, the vibrant art puts the macabre aspect in the background, but the town's history reveals a darker story. The cemetery, the final resting place for the town's Plague victims, was created to separate the contaminated from the uncontaminated. The bodies were buried in a pit dug at the time of burial, and the ashes of the deceased were later transferred to the ossuary. San Filippo Neri is worth a visit for its stunning architecture, intricate artwork, and the haunting secret behind its walls.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons