In July 1544, during the Ottoman siege of Lipari known as "la ruina", the corsair Barbarossa installed heavy artillery inside the underground remains of the medieval templum magnum of San Bartolomeo to bombard the citadel. Following the destruction, Emperor Charles V and Pope Paul III ordered the island's repopulation and reconstruction in 1545, leading to the building of the Church of San Giuseppe at the top of the slope in Marina Corta. On 1 May 1626, Bishop Giuseppe Candido designated it a subsidiary of the cathedral.
What to see
The single-nave interior features a barrel vault, Baroque ornamentation, and a choir loft supported by two pillars against the entrance wall. Side altars are built directly into the wall arches. The right side contains the 1789 Altar of the Souls in Purgatory with its matching painting, the Altar of Saint Anthony (built between 1770 and 1787), the Altar of Saint Aemilius, and the 1788 Altar of the Rosary. The left side holds the 1789 Altar of Saint Joseph displaying a painting of the Transit of Saint Joseph, a replica chapel of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the Altar of the Crucifix. Documented paintings include a Holy Family by Filippo Tancredi and a depiction of Saint Jerome. Outside, the bell tower spire was fully restored in September 2018 after being damaged by a lightning strike a year earlier.
Visiting
The church stands at the head of Salita San Giuseppe in the port area of Marina Corta. It historically served as the seat for the Confraternity of Saint Joseph, originally established in 1754 as the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament and Saint Jerome, dissolved during the French Revolution era, and reinstated by Bishop Giovanni Maria Visconte Proto between 1839 and 1844.
Our editors' tip
Look at the adjacent building facing the sea: this structure formed the original 17th-century body of the church before it was repurposed into an anti-sacristy and assembly hall for the brotherhood.