OF CINQUE FONTI
This church, which dates back to the fifteenth century, with subsequent changes, owes its name to the presence, in the immediate vicinity, of five medieval arches containing five founts, unfortunately now incorporated by modern superstructures. Tradition has it that the Church was erected in memory of a conversion made by Saint Francis in this place in 1213.
The exterior of the building, quite simple, has a facade characterized by two windows called “wayfarer”: they allowed believers to follow the mass also from outside. Inside, there are some valuable fresco paintings. On the right wall is a painting of the Virgin with the Child between the Saints Rocco, Sebastiano and Bernardino da Siena, without any doubt the most ancient work. The inscription, at the bottom of the frame, states that the work was performed in 1487 commissioned by “ser Ugolino,” in gratitude for the healing from an epidemic, probably the plague of 1469. The presence of St. Bernardino of Siena, friar minor, may be motivated by the fact that the church relied on the ‘SS.ma Annunziata’ convent in Michignano (distant about 4 kilometers from the historical centre of Amelia), belonging to the same Franciscan order called Observants. In addition, as a young man, still in Siena during an outbreak of plague, Bernardino devoted himself to caring for the sick. On the wall of the counter façade, is the painting of the Nursing Madonna (in Italian Virgin of milk). On the left wall is another work depicting the vow of an ill person, with his eyes looking up, towards the image of the Madonna and Child. The fragmentary inscription reveals that his leg was healed, thanks to the intercession of the Virgin.