Blue Chapel / La Chiesa Blu Italy

The Blue Chapel (La Chiesa Blue) is a classic abandoned church, in the hilly countryside of Italy. The chapel was built in the 19th Century, on the site of an older church which had collapsed. It has been abandoned since the 2000s.

The main room of the chapel is bright and airy, light pours in through windows to give a warm feeling to the main chamber. The windows either side of the sanctuary, where the altar is located, are tinted blue which gives the light at the far end of the church a vivid blue/turquoise colour cast.

In the middle of the sanctuary, hanging above the altar, is a wood cross. Facing the congregation it is painted to depict the crucified Christ, detailing in gold paint. From behind, the cross is decorated with black-painted iron in a scroll/floral-type pattern and fastened with large rivets.

This beautiful chapel can be viewed from a mezzanine balcony, giving an elevated view of the wooden pews where the congregation would sit during services. Below this balcony are several confession boxes.

In the aisle between the pews lies an ossuary, housing the remains of some important follower of Christ.

Brief history of the site, seminary and church

In the 15th Century, a lonely shepherdess witnessed a vision of the lady Madonna at this site. A small church was built here to commemorate this holy sighting, and soon after a seminary was built nearby. The church became disused in the 19th Century, while the seminary continued to operate as a college for several years after. Now both lay abandoned.

Years of neglect led to the collapse of the original church. The Blue Chapel was built on the ground of this fallen sanctuary in the 1930s, in a neo-gothic style. The seminary was also repaired in the 1960s, and operated as a college until the 1980s when it closed due to low student numbers. It was then turned into a police academy, before being left to abandonment in the 2000’s. The seminary was sold to a foreign buyer, who planned to turn the site into a nursing home. The plans never came to fruition, and rumours suggest the owner is either bankrupt or in jail. The site is currently for sale.