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Suffragio's Church
The Church of Suffragio, also known as the Church of "Purgatory", is situated at the end of Via Plebiscito. Above the Baroque marble portal in the front, there is a bas-relief Madonna and souls in Purgatory. Attributed to Alessandro Bergamini, the church was started in 1688 but construction was carried on well into the 18th century with some alterations, such as one of the two bell-towers, built after 1860. Dedicated to the souls in Purgatory, it's the only church in Carrara with a central cupola.
The particular atmosphere of the church is created by the perspective of the interior as well as by the unusual lights, which in the past were candles placed inside marble skulls on the high altar, and which are today screened lamps. The simple polychrome marble high altar is placed between two winged skulls and an oil altarpiece depicting the Madonna of the souls of the dead, an anonymous work of great artistic merit. To the right of the high altar, there is another altar with a wooden crucifix which can be seen through an opening in the cross-shaped altarpiece; to the left, the beautiful marble altarpiece dedicated to St. Joseph contains bas-reliefs of the saint's symbols on the small side p illars. The ancient slabs on the floor mark tombs mainly of members of Lazzoni-Moreschi household. The church underwent profound restoration work in 1997-98 when the cupola lantern, destroyed in 1920, was totally rebuilt.
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