The hidden statues

In the 1960s, Don Francesco Pergolini, the town's parish priest, burned some ancient statues kept in the churches of the Counterguerrillas because he believed them to be irreparably damaged. Some elders say that a statue of San Rocco with the dog, kept in a niche to the left of the main entrance to the church of San Benedetto Abate, had survived the destruction because it was in an awkward position to be pulled down. Legend has it that this statue was walled up in the niche where it was. The story was told to some children by the sexton who, according to him, would have seen the closure of the niche.
Of the same tenor is another story, which even younger witnesses recall. It seems that when the internal ladder leading to the organ loft was walled up, a very worn papier-mâché statue depicting Saint Lucia was placed in the room. Now it would be to the right of the entrance door. Therefore, according to these stories - which we can define as legends - a statue of San Rocco would be walled up to the left of the entrance to the church of San Benedetto Abate and to the right of Santa Lucia.