Church of Sant'Egidio (Preci)

History of the Church of Sant'Egidio

The Church of Sant'Egidio stands in the oldest part of Poggio di Croce, just outside the walls. It dates from the 15th century. It is built entirely of stone and was altered between the 15th and 18th centuries. The civil registry records of the Comune of Preci show it was active as a parish from 1774 to 1861.

The village (podium crucis) controlled the road from Triponzo to the Val Castoriana. Of the castle, the top tower and a pointed gate survive, topped by a bell gable.

What to see in the Church of Sant'Egidio

The facade is sheltered by a portico. On the walls are remains of 15th-century decoration of the Marche and Umbrian schools. Fragments can be made out of a giant Saint Christopher attributed to Paolo da Visso, a Marriage of Saint Catherine by Giovanni Sparapane and an Annunciation.

Inside are five 17th-century altars and a late 18th-century choir loft. On the choir loft is an organ built in 1900 by Nicola Morettini, with a single sound body in a wooden case.

On the high altar is the Madonna and Child between Saints Giles and Nicholas of Bari by the Florentine painter Jacopo Confortini, from 1640. Beside it are a late 15th-century wooden statue of Saint Giles and a 15th-century processional cross. The first altar on the right keeps the Marriage of Saint Catherine and a Nativity, frescoes by an Umbrian painter of the early 16th century.

The other altars, apart from the first on the left, no longer have their canvases, which are kept in the village's other churches. The large niches behind them, however, show interesting frescoes.

How to visit the Church of Sant'Egidio

The church faces the castle gate, outside the walls, and is visited together with the rest of the village. Poggio di Croce is a very small hamlet. Since the 2016 earthquake, it is best to check whether the church is open before visiting.

Every year the village celebrates the feast of its patron saint, Sant'Egidio.

Where the Church of Sant'Egidio is

The church is in Poggio di Croce, a hamlet of the municipality of Preci, in the province of Perugia. The village lies at 938 m above sea level. It overlooks the old road between Triponzo and the Val Castoriana.

Around the Church of Sant'Egidio

In Poggio di Croce you can see the pointed gate with its bell gable and the castle tower. Heading down into the village is the church of Santa Maria Annunziata, which keeps a holy water font from 1579 bearing the castle's coat of arms. Farther down are the church of the Santissimo Crocifisso and, about a kilometer from the village, the church of the Madonna della Quercia.

Other religious buildings in the area are described on the page about the churches of the Sibillini Mountains.