TEMPLE OF SAN RAFFAELE (year 1659)
The small temple, in neoclassical style, dedicated to S. Raffaele (patron saint of pharmacists) and to the Most Holy Virgin, stands on the hill of the same name, immersed in the greenery of the park which dominates the town. Built in 1659 by the future Cardinal Carlo Camillo Massimo II, it has four brick pilasters on the main façade, surmounted by terracotta Corinthian capitals. On the sides there were originally two arches; the one on the right remains standing, with a shaped cornice.
The interior, with a rectangular plan, is enriched with frescoes of exquisite workmanship, attributed to the school of Domenico Zampieri, known as Domenichino: "The Probatic Pool", "Tobias' Lunch", "Tobias, Tobiolo, the Virgin and the Angel".
The epigraph placed on the counter-façade recalls the figure of the client, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Apostolic Clerical Waiter of Pope Innocent X and Alexander VII, and Apostolic Nuncio in Spain to King Philip V. The small temple, together with that of S. Maria della Pace, is characterized by the use of particular bricks, made in ancient times in the locality of La Fornace.