I'd like to digress with this photo, taken in July 1987 (in the film era) at the foot of the stairs, capturing the Chiesa del Purgatorio as it stood then, almost unchanged, frozen in the silence of Terracina's historic center.

Seen from the front, its austere façade, typical of the 17th century, stands out for its sobriety... and for the powerful message engraved in the stone. At the very top, the eye is drawn to the pediment adorned with a sculpted skeleton, an emblematic figure of Christian Baroque art. He holds aloft a banner bearing the inscription « Hodie mihi, cras tibi » (Today for me, tomorrow for you), a solemn reminder of the brevity of life and the call to prayer for the souls in purgatory. In his left hand, the chalice symbolizes the hope of salvation.

Built by the Confraternity of the Souls of Purgatory, this church was a place of popular devotion, intended to preserve the memory of the dead and encourage the living to intercede for them. This old photograph, with its soft texture and the patinated charm of time, bears witness not only to the architecture, but also to the spiritual intensity that still inhabits this place today.