Misericordia Church

The Archconfraternity of the Reverend Misericordia was founded by Giovanni de' Medici in 1566.

Due to the lack of its own church, its initial seat was the right altar with the 16th-century wooden crucifix in the Cathedral.

This small church was built in 1677 and houses the relics of Saint Cristino, the martyr patron saint of Portoferraio.

Saint Cristino, Patron Saint of Portoferraio

The urn containing the remains of the Saint, martyred in 65 during the persecution of Nero, was rediscovered in 1661 in Rome in the catacombs of Priscilla. In the same year, the Portoferraiese Antonio Vai asked Pope Alexander VII to grant a "holy body" to the Reverend Confraternity of Misericordia of Portoferraio, to which he belonged.

The Pope fulfilled Vai's request, and he immediately brought the sacred relic to Portoferraio. It is believed that the Saint's body arrived on April 29, a day that was later consecrated as a feast day for Saint Cristino. In 1764, Clement XIII declared Saint Cristino the Patron Saint of Portoferraio.

Inside the church, the pipe organ built in 1792 and the Madonna with Child, placed on the left font of holy water, attributed to Giovanni Pisano's pupil, Tino da Camaino, are also of great value.

On the left, heading towards the apse, there is a large wooden royal crown displayed in a case, recalling the "sacrilegious" transformation of the Carmine Church into a theater by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814:

To remind of the story
of a sepulchral chapel
by Napoleon I
transformed into a civic theater
which the imperial dignity
overflew so briefly
this crown
already a symbol of the august stage
was finally placed here in this pious place.
Oh the transience of thrones
Oh the fickleness of glory and fortune
Oh the truth of every human design.

Curiosity: Since 1852, every May 5, a Mass in honor of Napoleon is celebrated here.