This website uses cookies exclusively for technical purposes and does not employ profiling cookies, as specified in the cookie policy.
Of the main altar located at the centre of the presbytery, part of the load-bearing masonry core remains, which supported the covering consisting of polychrome marble panels of Neapolitan school, probably designed by Vaccaro himself. It had a large size, correlated with the church’s grandeur. Following the suppression of the Goleto monastic complex by Napoleonic edict in 1807, the altar was dismantled, transported to the cathedral of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, and reused as the main altar. After the destructive earthquake of 1980, it was reassembled on the right wall of the transept. Following the restorations of the cathedral after the destructive earthquake of 23 November 1980, when it was reopened for worship in 1999, the altar was reassembled where it still stands today: at the end of the right nave, near the entrance to the sacristy. In its present form, unfortunately, it lacks some elements that were stolen after the earthquake, in particular the original tabernacle and the two side marble volutes. A large canvas was also originally placed on the central axis of the church of Vaccaro with the figure of the Redeemer or Gesù Salvatore (Jesus the Savior), by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. It is now preserved in the Cathedral of S. Angelo dei Lombardi, in the right transept above the sacristy door.
The Abbey of Goleto shared the difficult fate of many small towns in an earthquake-prone Apennine region. Significant damage to the abbey complex was caused by the destructive earthquakes of 8 September 1694 and 29 November 1732, followed by the one on 29 January 1733 (Calabritto earthquake) and on 12 June 1794 (with the epicentre in Ariano), and then again on 9 April 1853 and 25 January 1893 (which particularly affected Lucania). The most recent was the devastating earthquake of 23 November 1980, which, despite the immense tragedy, had the merit of bringing attention back to a monumental heritage of primary importance (thanks especially to the active presence of Father Lucio M. De Marino), initiating a long process of recovery and enhancement, carried out in 3 restoration campaigns, much of which is nearing completion 44 years later.