The foundation of the church goes back to 1683; the structure was originally with a single nave, surrounded by a moat, and the church was accessed through a drawbridge in front of the façade. In the following years the church was modified both internally ,with new altars, and outside, including the raising of the bell tower in 1715. Because of a strong earthquake in 1802, the bell tower was rebuilt starting from 1805 until 1812. The largest expansion was in 1866 with the construction of the two lateral naves, the destruction of the drawbridge and the filling of the moat. The current structure of the façade, although its simplicity and homogeneity, dates back presumably to this enlargement. While external side façades don’t have decorations, the main one is characterized by a rustic ashlar, with niches containing stone statues of San Giacomo and S. Filippo.

STATE OF CONSERVATION

The main problems were caused by capillary rising and by phenomenons due to atmospheric agents. The façade had undergone in recent decades (1975-1995) maintenance interventions, dictated by the need to solve evident decays rather than with the effort to protect the building from atmospheric agents. The results of these operations had not always brought benefits to the materials; It was a clear proof the presence of saline efflorescence which emerged from plaster, the detachment in different points of the surface coating and the colour alteration of pigments. Some cracks were also visible near the main spanorel and which were reflected also in the counter-façade.