Chiesa di Sant'Anna di Montemiletto

The Church of Sant’Anna in Montemiletto is a place of worship situated in Via Roma, close to the Former Convent of the Dominican Friars (now the municipal building).

The Church was commissioned by the aristocratic Tocco family and was dedicated to Saint Anna, to whom the noble family became devoted after a part of the saint’s foot, brought back from Greece by the feudal lords’ great-great-grandfather. 
The laying of the foundation stone was celebrated in 1591, and works restarted after a brief pause in 1632. In 1683, the Church was consecrated for the first time by Cardinal Francesco Maria Orsini, the future Pope Benedict XIII. The works continued during the years that followed, and were completed by Leonardo V Tocco, who in 1732 married Lady Camilla Cantelmo Stuart in the Church itself, during a solemn ceremony led by Cardinal Orsini.

Today, the Church of Sant’Anna has a single nave with four chapels either side, four altars and paintings dating from the early 18th century. The upper vault is decorated with frescoes depicting the life of Saint Dominic and the Battle of Muret. Behind the high altar is another fresco depicting the Nativity of the Virgin. The high altar, made from varicoloured marble inlaid by the famous Tuscan artist Pietro Ghetti, is encircled by a marble balustrade bearing the crest of the Tocco family, with the common grave beneath. Even today, the link between the Church of Sant’Anna and the feudal lords of Montemiletto can be seen in several of the details such as the large commemorative stone plaque outside the main door, in honour of Carlo Tocco, and the large family coat-of-arms behind the main altar.

A flawless example of Baroque art in Irpinia, the Church of Sant’Anna of Montemiletto shows evident traces of how important the Tocco family was for the growth of the local community.