Calvario

The Calvary is a monument created in the second half of the 19th century by the layman Professor Giuseppe Renato Greco. It is a representation of some scenes from the Passion of Christ, unique in its kind because it was made with a large number of shells and ceramic shards of various eras and colours. The Calvary is located in Via per Maruggio, near Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. It was proposed in 1839 by five Ligurian priests in memory of when, during Lent, they held sermons in the city's places of worship. Initially a mound of stones and earth was raised on which five large crosses were planted, but over time the citizens of Mandu realized that the monument was too bare, which is why Professor Giuseppe Renato Greco was commissioned by the archpriest Marco Gatti. The decision was made to collect old, valuable crockery from house to house, to bear witness to the ceramic production of Manduria and Laterza, and then use them as mosaic tiles. It was decided to adopt this original and creative method in order to embellish the monument with the glazed colors of the majolica. Below are some photos of the Manduria Calvary.