The Ducal Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, known as the Church of Purgatory , was a place of worship dating back to the mid- 17th century located in the city of Gravina in Puglia at the entrance to the Cathedral Square for those arriving from Porta San Michele.
The Church is called ducal because its construction, begun in 1649, took place thanks to the generosity and religiosity of the Dukes of Gravina, Ferdinando III Orsini and his wife Giovanna Francipane della Tolfa, parents of Pope Benedict XIII.
It was dedicated to Santa Maria del Suffragio for the celebration of masses in suffrage for the souls in Purgatory . The Church of Purgatory is a pearl of religious architecture, it belongs to a specific category of Catholic places of worship, that of the Monti del Suffragio, which can be found in many other cities in Puglia . These are Churches dedicated to the cult of the dead: prayers and Holy Masses are aimed at the salvation of the souls of the deceased, assigning to the Monte del Suffragio a mediating function between the devotion of the living faithful and the conquest of the Celestial Kingdom by those who have passed on to a better life.
On the facade of the Church you can read two inscriptions that clearly refer to the memento mori : “Quod tu es ego fui” I was what you are, “Tu eris quod ego sum” You will be what I am.