Church of Sant’Antonio da Padova in Marina del Cantone

Church of Sant’Antonio da Padova

Position: Marina del Cantone

Almost on the sea, right on that pebble beach so crowded with bathers in summer, stands the chapel of Sant’Antonio: it is part of a building complex overlooking the ancient “mule track” that leads to Recommone and was founded, for popular vote, in 1646.

Between the end of the 1700s and the early 1800s, the priest Nicola de Martino had it restored with no expense spared while the rich landowner Luca Maggio donated, from his own pocket, the wonderful painted “riggiole” floor of the Chiajese school, still beautifully preserved.

The floor is decorated with “ornaments and designs” alluding to the ancient tonnara of Nerano, while in the center, in the typical modules of the late Rococo, the coat of arms of the Maggio family, patron of the church, still stands out.

The polychrome marble altar, dating back to the 1600s, was defined by Riccardo Filangieri “of good Baroque design”: it was formerly surmounted by a painting depicting Saint Anthony. Today, unfortunately, it is replaced by a mediocre canvas depicting the Virgin.

In 1904, the church was renovated in all its parts thanks to the help of the faithful from Nerano: even the ancient statue of Saint Anthony, which is still venerated to the left of the altar, was elegantly restored.

Every year, on June 13, the people of Nerano gather around Sant’Antonio: a solemn procession by sea strengthens the relationship of faith between the Saint and his faithful and protects all those activities connected to the sea that still occupy hundreds of inhabitants of Massa Lubrense.