A Baroque gem planned by the architect Gagliardi, the church of S. Giuseppe, erected in the eighteenth century, is notable for its slender towered front, which acquires plastic beauty in the movement created by its spiral scrolls and statues, and by the solemn composure of its columns and pilasters. The interior, on an elliptical plan, is covered with delightful stuccowork, while the fresco in the dome illustrates the "Glory of St. Benedict". The original architectonic solutions adopted for the church of the Purgatorio, built in 1658, make it one of the citta''s most beautiful churches; standing at the end of a wide flight of steps, in a dominant position with respect to Piazza della Repubblica, the church, with its façade adorned with columns, arches, niches, sculptures, festoons and cherubs, has an interior with three naves and contains various marble altars and fine canvases, including the Souls in Purgatory by F. Manno. At the back of the church, is the tall bell tower, built on the remains of ancient Byzantine walls. The splendid church of S. Francesco all'Immacolata was originally built by the Franciscans in the thirteenth century, the Gothic portal and the remains of the bell tower date from the original building, which was rebuilt in Baroque style after the disastrous 1693 earthquake. The interior of the church has three naves with some frescoes, various canvases, three fine sarcophagi, and polychrome marble altars; the use of dark asphalt stone in the floor, the holy water stoups and for a sixteenth-century tombstone near the presbytery, is noteworthy. Finally, the adjacent monastery deserves mention - nowadays used as an old people's home - which still has its majestic entrance steps made of asphalt stone, with griffons and columns supporting the handrail, and 4 caryatids with cherubs and ornamental flower vases.