Church of St. Peter the Apostle

The village of Nocchi is made up of small scattered building clusters, consisting of houses, former mills and oil presses, existing in the valley of the Lucese river, already inhabited in the Roman period and mentioned in a document dated 13 November 818 together with its church dedicated to San Pietro.
The current church, very tall when compared to the existing building fabric, is the result of a new construction built in 1861 and which was placed next to the previous one.
The facade, completely plastered, is resolved as a niche by an architectural apparatus of neoclassical inspiration, with two pairs of composite style pilasters supporting a triangular pediment. In the center opens the portal framed in marble. The interior has a single rectangular hall, oriented to the south-east, about 36 meters long and 13 wide, concluded by a short apse and divided into five bays by an architectural apparatus marked by columns and pilasters in Ionic style. The main chapel is covered by a dome enclosed in an octagonal lantern; while the hall is covered by a barrel vault with nails. The bell tower, raised during the 19th century, is independent of the church, dates back to the early medieval period and is located on the left side of the religious building.

Facade
The façade, entirely plastered, is resolved as an aedicule by a classical architectural layout in mortar that is articulated in a triangular pediment, supported by two pairs of giant pilasters, in composite style, placed on the sides; in the central span of the moldings define a blind arch, in the center of which opens the entrance portal, framed in marble, and concluded by a cymatium on brackets of the same material.

Prospectuses
The lateral elevations, very simple, are entirely plastered; in particular the right side, completely free, is divided into four bays by smooth pilasters, with a frame that runs along the entire front and on which the four arched windows are set. The left side presents only the frame of the window impost and is partly hidden by the volume of the sacristy.

Plant
The building has a rectangular plan shape, with the major axis oriented from south-east to north-west and the entrance in the latter position. The interior has a single hall, divided into four bays, and a major chapel, positioned at the back, defined by a system of columns.

Presbytery
The presbytery, housed in the main chapel, is raised three steps above the floor of the hall and is separated from it by a marble balustrade with a mixtilinear shape.

Structural system
The structural parts of the building consist of continuous masonry, transverse arches, beams, vaults, domes and wooden floors.

Coverings
The roof covering is made of flat clay tiles, Marseille type.

Floors and paving
The building is paved with white and grey marbles that create different geometric designs.

Decorative elements
The interior of the building is marked and articulated by a plastic architectural apparatus that sees Ionic-style pilasters divide the hall, covered by a barrel vault with nails, into four bays and frame blind arches. The main chapel is, instead, defined by two columns, also in Ionic style, which together with a transverse arch configure a serliana motif, repeated on the back wall, by homologous columns, so that we end up with a central square space, covered by a dome, with two lateral arms, with a short barrel vaulted background, similar to the scarsella. The serliana motif is repeated on the counterfaçade, where it defines a barrel-vaulted endonarthex.

Choir
Placed on the counter-façade and entirely made of wood, it is supported by two pairs of wooden brackets and by the compass structure; the parapet divided into sections by moulded projections, has an extroflexion in the central part.

Bell tower
The bell tower is that of the ancient early medieval church that was raised in a later period. Entirely in stone masonry, with rough edges arranged in Saracen style, it presents in succession a single-lancet window, an archivolted window and a double-lancet window.