The hypogeal church of the Holy Spirit

The hypogeal church of the Holy Spirit stands in the immediate vicinity of the Foggiali area, in the past strongly characterized from a religious point of view by the presence of the Dominican monastery and the convent that, until the fifteenth century, housed the penitents of Accon. This place of worship was a Benedictine settlement located outside the ancient city walls and is now part of the underground rooms below Piazza Vittorio Veneto: brought to light after the works that, in 1993, have given the square its present appearance, is an access road to the Sasso Barisano. Its construction dates back to the 9th century; over time it underwent profound changes until, around the end of the 19th century, it was covered together with the entire area of the middle ground. Very little remains of the original structure: the interior has three naves, there are visible traces of frescoes that are very deteriorated and that, as far as possible, allow us to glimpse accuracy in colors and strokes, in particular a fresco depicting St. Sophia of the thirteenth century can still be read. These rooms also present traces of a past residential use determined by the overcrowding of the Rioni Sassi that pushed to occupy all the available spaces.