Chiesa di Sant'Ippolisto Martire

The Church of Sant'Ippolisto Martire is a place of worship located in the historic centre of Atripalda.

Its origins are very ancient, as it is considered the first religious building in the area and identified with the Specus Martyrum, the early Christian cemetery of Abellinum of the first Christian communities of the Sabato Valley. Inside this place, the inhabitants of the area kept the remains and relics of Saint Hippolytus, martyred around 304 AD, and 20 other martyred saints who died in the following years. A number of tombs have been found along the perimeter walls of the Church and in some parts of the Archaeological Area of Ancient Abellinum, and the tombs of the Levite priest Romulus and Bishop Sabinus are still preserved inside the religious building.

Over the centuries, the Church has been renovated and modified several times, but its architectural layout dates back to the 16th century since it was built in the 16th century on top of a pre-existing Paleochristian basilica, and before the 1980 earthquake, which seriously damaged it, it still looked as it did when it was restored in 1852. Today, the religious building has a Romanesque façade, made of stone in the lower part and black tuff in the upper part, where there are two niches on either side of a large window housing the statues of Saint Sabinus and Saint Hippolytus. Among the works of art in the Church is the painting of the "Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus" by the Neapolitan painter Nicola La Volpe (1803-1876), a valuable work of art that further enhances the artistic value of this place of worship.

A religious symbol of the Atripaldese community, the Church of Sant'Ippolisto Martire represents the link between early Christian and modern civilisation.