Madonna del Giglio, Acquasparta

Very old church...

In Inventories No. 15 of 1774, preserved in the Archives of Todi, we read: "The Church of the Madonna del Giglio is located under the old out-of-this-earth door in its church property". it belonged to the Company of the Madonna del Giglio, established on 1 November 1300 and is the oldest of the many Confraternities or Companies that were born in the second Christian millennium. He had, besides the purposes of worship, also that of welcoming the poor and the sick in his "Hospitalis Sancte Marie de lilio", built on the north side of the Church. With the confiscation of its assets, which took place with the unity of Italy, within 50 years the Company has become extinct. The Church "is believed to exist in existence since the tenth century". This hypothesis is supported by the fresco existing at the center of the altar and depicting the Madonna del Giglio con Bambino dating back to that period. The church as it stands today is from the beginning of the seventeenth century and we have confirmation of it with the date 1617 written on the external sole that is on the eaves, at the height of the side door (east side or in front of the walls). "It was completed in 1630 and blessed in the same year with the faculties of Msgr. Lodovico Cenci Bishop of Todi ". The church, in its present form, is attributed to Giandomenico Bianchi, known for the construction, a few years before, of the Palazzo Cesi and the Chiesa del Crocifisso in Todi. "The facade is made of well-worked travertines". It has a single nave with a cornice around brick. There are three arches on each side for the chapels. Opposite the main arch and two steps with a vault made of a vault and a dome is the high altar, in wood, with carved figures like the Eternal Father and Angels with lilies in hand, the work of local artisans, probably from Narni. In the center we find the fresco depicting the Madonna with Child and the Giglio almost completely destroyed by a barbarian hand in the 70s - 80s of the 20th century. On the sides, covered by the wooden frame, one can see other figures of saints, one of which is S. Antonio Abate.