Travelcast Piceno - Audio & Video Guide per la Provincia di Ascoli Piceno

The church of Santa Maria della Misericordia is at the foot of the Agello hill, one of the three that originally made up the territory of the town of Amandola.
The view of the narrow valley is closed on one side by the Sybilline mountain range, while in the direction of the sea, along the Tenna river, the old railroad tracks are easily discernible. These tracks connected Amandola to Porto San Giorgio and still retrace the street that reaches to a small church.

Documents testify that the building was already in existence at the beginning of the 15th century, and that in about 1420 it had undergone major restoration. Through the centuries,  and through the actions of various restorers, the interior decorations and richly frescoed walls have faded. Externally, a portico was erected which preserved the devotional frescoes from the elements.  The church was dedicated to the Madonna for protection against the frequent plagues which pushed the population out of the cities and villages.  The frescoes on the external walls are signs of the people’s devotion, as was the creation of ex-votos of gratitude for protection from danger.  Gestures of gratitude also took the form of donations of money or valuables, as evidenced by the charity boxes on the walls.
In the apse of the interior church is an imposing fresco. The lower band represents the moment of the so-called “Dormitio Virginis” in which the Madonna, in the presence of the apostles and an angel, appears to falls asleep and is assumed into heaven, body and soul.  The feast of the Assumption, celebrated on the 15th of August, was previously called the feast of the Dormition, but the name was changed by Pope Pio XII in 1950.
The assumption of the Madonna into heaven is represented in the higher portion of the fresco. In it, the soul of Mary, represented as a swaddled baby, is seated on the lap of Christ triumphant and welcomed by the harmonious music of angels playing the violin and lute.
This way of representing the scene of the Assumption comes from the Byzantine world, as does the frontal position of the apostles at the shoulders of the sleeping virgin.
On the left side of the apse, the Madonna is represented in the act of protecting the population with her own mantle.  It is this figure which represents Our Lady of Mercy, and which provides the small church with its name.  This image is connected to protection provided against the plague.
On the walls of the nave, cycles of pictures are superimposed whose interpretation is now only fragmentary. But on the walls on the left, in Gothic style, it is possible to make out the name of one of the benefactors of the church, Viziati from Amandola.

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