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This 16th century chapel is best known for its "Scala santa", a privilege granted to the local population by Pope Pius VII as a sign of gratitude for their hospitality towards members of the clergy sent in exile to Bastia by Napoleon.

Our Lady of Monserrato, which is classified as a Historical Monument, was built in the 16th century. It was damaged by Genoese soldiers in 1761 but later completely restored. The façade was renovated in the 19th century in the neoclassical style. The marble portal dates back to 1860. The building houses a “Scala Santa” or Holy Staircase, in reference to the Praetorium in Jerusalem, which Jesus Christ climbed on his way to his trial by Pontius Pilate, who sentenced him to be crucified. Pope Pius VII granted authorisation for the chapel’s construction in 1816, after Napoleon I, who was in conflict with the Pope at the time, had sent 424 members of the Roman high clergy into exile in Bastia. The hospitality of the local population was such that the “Scala Santa” was offered to them as a sign of gratitude. As a special privilege, climbing the staircase grants the same indulgences as those given if one climbs the one in Rome, provided it is climbed on one’s knees. The staircase was only installed in 1884. In one of the alcoves of the choir stands a white marble statue, carved in Genoa and dating back to 1637. This statue stood above the altar even before the construction of the staircase. In the side chapels are found three oil on canvas paintings. On the right is “The martyrdom of Saint Felicity and her sons Alexander, Vitalis and Martial”, a painting registered as a Historical Monument, attributed to the Bastiais painter Anton Benedetti Rostino (1750-1821), and restored in 2019. On the left is “The Visitation”, a painting attributed to Marc’Antonio De Santis, a painter originally from Naples, whose work in Bastia is known as far back as 1646. A portrait of Reverend Lorenzo Lucciana can also be seen there. (Anonymous, Corsican school from the 18th century). A wooden plate indicates that during an apparition he vowed to rebuild the chapel of Monserrato, destroyed by the Genoese in 1761.

Bastia

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