Located in the center and on top of the ancient castle, the Church of Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino houses the relics of Martyred Antonio and Antonino and Beato Ugolino..
The Mother Church of Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino was built between 1260 and 1262 by the Gualdese community, under the direction of master builder Clemente Ferradino. It was built on the ruins of an earlier structure, of which little remains. Over the centuries it has undergone many reconstructions and all that remains of the original construction are the crypt, some bas-reliefs on the façade and the apse.
The façade is characterised by the symbols of the four Evangelists and the Paschal Angel, carved in bas-relief on stone and set like gems.
In 1905, the church was flanked by a bell tower and a plaque commemorates the event.
In 1898, in a religious procession, the first stone of this bell tower was blessed; this is placed on the west side of the bell tower, marked with the letter A.
The interior has a single nave, with three altars and a chapel on the left. In the rear altar are two roundels, inside which are two late Renaissance frescoes recalling the battles of Gualdo, which can be clearly recognised in the fortified structure depicted.
Below the presbytery is the 13th-century Gothic-style crypt. The room is rectangular, with a cross-vaulted ceiling. There are two columns supporting the vault, surmounted by capitals with leaf motifs. The crypt of the church houses the relics of the Santi martiri Antonio e Antonino and Beato Ugolino..
Regarding the provenance of the two saints after whom the church is named, the information is intertwined between history and legend. Martyred under the empire of Diocleziano, of St Antonino it is known that his body was buried in a church erected in his honor in Gualdo, where later the remains of Beato Ugolino were also preserved. While for Sant’Antonio, historian Jacobilli links his placement in this church to a dispute between Gualdo and Bevagna. Beato Ugolino, of the Augustinian order, spent much of his life in the nearby convent of San Niccolò della Torre in Bevagna, and became the patron saint of Gualdo, celebrated on 3rd of September.The medieval commemoration that animates the streets of the village between August and September ends in his honor.
