Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo (Our Lady of the Assumption into Heaven) in Candida stands in Piazza dei Martiri, near the Town Hall.

Built in the 16th century by order of Maria de Cardona, marquise of Padula and wife of Francesco d'Este, the Church was damaged by several earthquakes between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. In the restoration that followed, the religious building changed its skin, with the façade and portal adapted to the Baroque style that still clearly marks its features today. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Church underwent further restoration until the last operation in 1982, when the two bells of the bell tower attached to the building were cast.

The Baroque portal, made of stone, is accompanied by a painting of the Virgin and Child in the wooden balustrade above the entrance. 
The Church houses works of undoubted artistic importance: the sarcophagus of Filippo Filangieri (1310-1372); the Baroque altar, inlaid with polychrome marble; the wooden altarpieces, enclosed within a double row of columns; the 19th-century organ with three rows of pipes; the machine containing the painting of Our Lady of Good Counsel, dating back to 1831; and finally, the bust of Saint Philip, patron saint of the town.

A fascinating religious building, embellished with sometimes sumptuous details and decorations, the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo in Candida is an example of Baroque expression in Irpinia.