Santa Croce al Monte Calvario

In 1690, the priest Bartolomeo Bruno, who had returned from a trip to the Holy Land, decided to have the Sanctuary of Santa Croce del Monte Calvario built on a hill with a striking and panoramic view to the west of Porto Maurizio, surrounded by majestic cypress trees. In 1706, the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity, with the main purpose of rescuing the sailors who had been taken prisoner by pirates, took on the burden of the building, which was used at the beginning of the 20th century to care for the sick.
The construction of the complex took place over several phases, starting with a first church with a central octagonal plan, the design of which was probably the work of Marco Aicardi, and followed by the addition of an atrium porticoed façade and a building known as the conventino. The architecture reflects a simplistic Baroque taste. On the inside, lightened by niches set into the corner pillars, many works of artwork can be seen, such as the Dead Christ, purchased in Lucca by Bruno, an object of great devotion, or paintings by G. B. Gaulli, known as Baciccio, from illustrious commissions in Rome, and a Madonna and Child of the French school dating back to the 14th century. Inside the convent, the Confraternity also set up a small museum displaying the cloaks of the Trinitarians, used in processional processions, and other processional furnishings such as crosses and caskets.