The church of St. Anthony, located in the historic center of ancient Cerreto, is named after the town’s patron saint. Originally attached to a convent, it dates back to 1240, just after the deaths of St. Francis and St. Anthony. The church found its place to the left of the convent and was very large, judging by the altars and chapels that stood there. Among these the most important was certainly the Chapel of the Treasury, founded by Father Cesare De Laurentiis, a Cerretese and Master of the Order, whose construction began in May 1625. Destroyed by the 1688 earthquake, the church was rebuilt following the new urban plan devised by Giovanni Battista Manni. Although the devotion of the people of Cerreto to St. Anthony of Padua was ancient and documented as early as 1616, he was officially declared Patronus Principalis of Cerreto Sannita in 1731 by Msgr. Baccari. Another earthquake in 1805 caused extensive damage to this day.
