Augustinian Convent in Forza D'Agrò
The Convent of Sant'Agostino in Forza D'Agrò is located in Piazza delle Triade, next to the church of the Holy Trinity.
The convent was built around 1591, the year the Confraternity was founded: it is probable that the number "1559" engraved in the arched entrance door in dolomite stone means the beginning of the works of the monastery. After the unification of Italy, the convent became state property and forced the Augustinian Friars to leave those walls. The convent was thus temporarily entrusted to the municipality, which erected it as the seat of the Municipal Administration. When the new Town Hall was built in 1982, the building was abandoned until the year 2000 when the restoration work began. The large facade of the monastery is interrupted by two windows and three large windows on the first floor and by two windows and a large arched door on the ground floor. After passing the entrance arch, on the right there is a room known as " Santu Nicola ".
In the basement of the convent, which is accessed through a trap door placed on the floor of the room of San Nicola and a rapid staircase, there is a crypt where, all around an altar, 15 masonry armchairs are obtained along the walls, each having a hole right in the middle of the seat. Almost in contrast with the function of the place, the various and lively colors stand out with a prevalence of red, gray and orange. In these places the monks practiced their funeral rites, burying their brothers "seated". Also inside the San Nicola room, a common grave was found where, it is assumed, the less important friars were buried.
Leaving the crypt and the San Nicola room, you enter the Cloister of the Convent , made with large square section pillars. The doors of some rooms of the Convent open around. To the left of the cloister, a small door leads to the Church of the Triade.
