Church of Saint Mary of Bethlehem
Th history of the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Betlem is intertwined with that of the Celestine fathers who, in 1606, abandoned their small monastery inside the town walls in order to move to a new building next to the 16th century church of Santa Maria in Betlem situated just outside the Porta Piccola. The church was in poor repair by 1606, so much so that the archbishop of Brindisi, Giovanni Falces, during his pastoral visit ordered that the precarious roof be taken down and the wooden beams be used to erect the scaffolding of the Mater Domini that was in the process of construction. The church, in a very poor state of conservation therefore, passed in 1608 to the Celestine fathers. The Mesagnese Benedictine monks in the first half of the 17th century could boast of a very large estate, so they decided to re-build the church from its foundations.
So in 1660 the work to construct the present day church commenced, probably overseen by the Mesagnese architect Francesco Capodieci, who the year before, had just finished managing the works on the new collegiate church. With the construction of the church of Saint Mary of Bethlehem and the Collegiata, the Baroque was slowly established in Mesagne.
Some years after, in 1711, the Celestines decided to enlarge the monastery and in 1738 it took on the dimensions that we can still see today. The master Leccese sculptors and architects, Pasquale and Domenico Antonio Simone, were employed in the 1720s and 1730s in the Celestine complex, so it is highly likely that they were also engaged in the construction of the facade of the church of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, the statues, and internally, the creation of the lateral altars and possibly the aforementioned vault. The structural perspective of the church is organised in two orders, surmounted by the central apex flanked by angels and pinnacles.
In the first order there are statues of Saint Benedict and Saint Peter Celestine, the entrance portal recalls that of the chiesa Matrice (Mother Church), with the statue of the Vergine della Sanità (Our Lady of Health) at its centre. In the second order, we find in the centre above the portal a large window richly decorated, and in the niches on the sides the statues of Santa Scolastica and Santa Gertrude; and on the far sides two other statues. On the pediment there is low relief of Saint Michael Archangel, two angels on the sides and then two pinnacles. The internal layout has one nave and the sides have a series of Baroque altars of notable value. There is the altar of Saint Peter Celestine, with a canvas of the saint (unknown artist 1700 – 1749) that has in the upper frame a piece of fresco with the image of Santa Maria della Sanità (Saint Mary of Health). The chapel of the Crocifisso (crucified Christ) has a painting (unknown artist 1700 – 1749) depicting the Crucifixion and Our Lady of Sorrows in the upper frame.
The chapel of Saint Vitus the Martyr has a painting (unknown artist 1700 – 1749) of the Blessed Saint Vitus the Martyr, Modesto and Crescenza. In the upper frame there is the Madonna with the Christ Child.
The chapel of Saint Benedict has a painting on the altar of Saint Benedict of Norcia (unknown artist 1700 – 1749) and in the upper oval frame, Saint Lucia Martyr.
The chapel of the Madonna of the Snow, with a canvas on the altar depicting the Madonna of the Snow, with Child and the Saints Bartholomew and Emygidius, and in the upper frame Saint John with the Christ Child.
The chapel of the Nativity of Mary has a painting of the Nativity (unknown artist 1700 – 1749) and in the panel, Saint Agatha Martyr.
Of note is the main altar constructed with polychrome marble, and the organ placed controfacciata on an intricately carved wooden deck.
Finally, also of notable merit, are two large canvases found in the presbytery. One depicts the Adoration of the shepherds, a painting distinctly of the Baroque, with obvious references to the Venetian and Neapolitan schools. The Adoration of the Magi however, attributed to the Mesagnese artist Lucantonio Paciolla, has more of a 16th century structure; the whole scene is more static.