[See 01] Church of the Blessed Sacrament at the Circle
see
#4682b4
Votive church built in the second decade of the 18th century, based on a project by the Militellese architect Don Antonino Scirè Giarro, it was intended for the perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It has a singular carved Baroque facade with a concave Borrominian profile, surmounted by a bell loggia with a three-light fan profile. Inside, decorated with elegant stuccoes in the late Baroque style, it preserves the valuable statue with its fercolo of Sant'Antonio Abate in the chair of 1575, the work of the Bivonese sculptor Antonio De Mauro, coming from the church of S. Antonio Abate. Of particular interest is the predella of the statue of the saint with scenes from his life depicted in relief. A tombstone from 1724 (today exhibited in the Treasury of S. Maria della Stella) remembers the spouses Alfio Palermo and Fortunata of the barons Lamia, benefactors of the church, buried here. The church also has two interesting frescoes, on the pillars of the large chapel of the presbytery, depicting the coat of arms of the Bourbons of Naples and Sicily in the two different elaborations, of Charles III and Ferdinand III of Sicily.
[See 02] Church of Sant'Antonio di Padova
see
#4682b4
It was built in 1503 through the interest of the confraternity of the same name, in the place where, according to a local tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua stopped during his journey from Lentini to Vizzini in 1223 (second journey to Sicily). The church, remodeled several times over the centuries, had six Renaissance-style chapels with carvings, one of which is still visible. In addition to the devotion to the titular saint, devotion to the Virgin of Monserrato was cultivated in it, of which a statue made by Matteo Frazzetto in 1583 and then rebuilt in the 18th century (now in the San Nicolò Museum) was kept. The presence of a chapel called the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied by a clay sculptural group depicting the Deposition of Jesus (now disappeared), and a Maltese cross on the façade suggest a connection between the confraternity of this church and some Jerusalemite order. The dome from 1574 with a blind hexagonal lantern that overlooks the presbytery area (former chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is completely unique: characterized by a ribbed vault on an octagonal base with angular spandrels with projecting steps, it refers to similar solutions of medieval architecture of Sicily, filtered in the light of the new language of the Renaissance imported perhaps, in this case, by Giandomenico and Antonuzzo Gagini active in Militello in those years.
[See 03] Church of the Most Holy Crucifix on Calvary
see
#4682b4
The church is mentioned for the first time in a bishop's decree of 1503. It was built for devotional purposes on top of the Caruso hill, in a dominant position over the town, in memory of Golgotha. Later the confraternity of the SS. Crocifisso al Calvario will assume its care and administration. In the following century it was enlarged and assumed the shape of a cross with the addition of three apses surmounted by an octagonal blind lantern, as seen today. The valuable carved chapel with reliquary of the high altar belongs to this building phase. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 (many faithful gathered in prayer died in the collapse), in the mid-18th century it was repaired and enriched with stuccos, new altars, sacred furnishings and a valuable Crucifix object of particular veneration in Lent. In 1740 the Catanese painter Giovanni Meli was commissioned to paint the large canvases placed along the walls of the nave, depicting: Christ on Calvary (stolen), Christ mocked, Christ scourged and Christ in the garden. In 1762 the Catania architect Francesco Battaglia designed the original portico that closes the facade, under which the famous and evocative rite of the crucifixion and deposition of Jesus takes place every year on Good Friday.
[See 04] Confraternity Church of the Guardian Angels (of San Michele Arcangelo)
see
#4682b4
Known by the Militellesi simply as the Angel, it was built in 1639 on the initiative of some priests of the city, zealous in works of charity, on the site where a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael had already stood since the 13th century. The old hospital run by the Compagnia dei Bianchi was annexed to the latter (hospital perhaps was built by the Knights Templar). After the hospital was transferred to another place and the Company ceased to take care of the church, in 1657 it became the seat of the new Congregation of Maria Santissima degli Agonizzanti, still active today, which had the purpose of offering comfort to the dying and a worthy burial to the needy. Restored following the 1693 earthquake, the building has valuable rococo style stuccos and a splendid Caltagirone ceramic floor from 1768 (in 2000 some majolica tiles from the floor were stolen). The church also has two canvases depicting the Archangels Michael and Raphael and a positive organ from the early 18th century, now transferred to Santa Maria della Stella for safety reasons.
[See 05] Confraternity Church of San Sebastiano
see
#4682b4
Mentioned for the first time in 1504, it was the seat of the homonymous brotherhood perhaps connected to the Order of Malta (as can be deduced from a sign on the facade). In 1572 it became a destination for devotees and pilgrims who acclaimed San Sebastiano martyr co-patron of Militello, for having freed the city from the scourge of the plague. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it was rebuilt in 1702 incorporating the portal of the 16th-century church into the façade. It has three altars in all and the main altar contains the statue of San Sebastiano with wooden ferrule, framed by a magnificent carved stone chapel in Baroque style from 1708. Other furnishings, vestments and sacred furnishings, including the silver reliquary of San Sebastiano, are exhibited in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella.
[See 06] Confraternity Church of the Holy Souls of Purgatory
see
#4682b4
Dedicated to Saints Vitus and Gregory the Great, but better known as the Purgatory, it was built in 1613 to replace the old church of San Vito, located elsewhere and now in ruins. The elegant intaglio prospectus of 1690 is due to the Militellese master builder Giacomo Barone. Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was immediately repaired. With a single nave and three altars in all, it is decorated inside with valuable and sumptuous polychrome stuccos with allegorical figures and has a grandiose high altar with steps in gilded wood with zecchino, surmounted by a small throne for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
[See 07] Church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo
see
#4682b4
Originally only a rock chapel located in the upper part of the city towards the west, mentioned in a deed of 1517. In it the bishops of Syracuse on a pastoral visit to Militello wore pontifical clothes, being along the ancient route that connected Militello to Mineo , Vizzini and Caltagirone . It was replaced by a new brick church in 1568, located a short distance from the old one. This was not damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and today has a beautiful carved portal (probably made by the workers working in the city in the mid-18th century, following Francesco Battaglia), graceful eighteenth-century stuccos and the venerated simulacrums of Our Lady of Sorrows and the Help.
[See 08] Church and former Benedictine convent of San Giovanni Battista
see
#4682b4
Of medieval foundation, the Benedictine convent complex of San Giovanni Battista was gifted around 1470 by Countess Eleonora Speciale, widow of Baron Blasco II Barresi di Militello, daughter of the Viceroy of Sicily Niccolò Speciale and Beatrice Landolina who retired here in later years of his life. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and subsequently restored, it still retains some of the original structures, such as a beautiful Renaissance-style portal. Like all the other monasteries in Sicily, it suffered the effects of the subversive laws of 1866 which transferred ownership of the building to the Italian state. Subsequently the monastery was sold to private individuals who obtained homes from it, while the church was redeemed and transferred to the Parish of Santa Maria della Stella. The single nave is embellished with a beautiful eighteenth-century floor in Calatina majolica with a serial design and has a total of three altars, in addition to the nuns' choir in the choir loft. In the high altar there is an eighteenth-century statue of St. John the Baptist, once protected by a canvas depicting the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan (now in Santa Maria della Stella). The other two altars instead exhibited two beautiful canvases by Alessandro Comparetto depicting respectively the Nativity of San Giovanni (1631) and the Beheading of San Giovanni (1634). For safety reasons, the canvases, together with other sacred furnishings (including a 15th-century pyx and a frontal in gold thread), are now kept in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella.
[See 09] Church and former Benedictine convent of Sant'Agata
see
#4682b4
The church and the first recluse were built at the beginning of the 16th century, thanks to the offers of Militello devotees who wanted to erect a church dedicated to the martyr from Catania in their city. A "contrada of Sant'Agata" is mentioned in a deed of the notary Matteo Mancarello di Militello dated 1514. This initiative, a few decades later, was taken up by the lords of the city who equipped the prison and used it as a boarding school for "poor old maids". Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, the monastery was repaired and enlarged in 1695 by Prince Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte, Marquis of Militello, who installed the cloistered Benedictine nuns there. The facade of the church was instead rebuilt in the late 18th century with carving in neoclassical forms, however remaining incomplete. In 1869, expelled the nuns following the suppression of religious orders by the Italian State, the premises of the monastery were sold to private individuals who obtained homes (some structures of the ancient monastery are still visible on the back from a courtyard in via Clausura), the church instead it was redeemed and transferred ownership to the matrix. The hall interior, essential in the decorations, houses the valuable 17th-century chapel of the main altar in polychrome stone in the Mannerist style (similar to the chapel of the main altar of the church of Purgatorio and to the chapel of the Nativity of Santa Maria la Vetere), this it frames the statue with a fern of the Madonna delle Grazie. The 17th-century statues of Sant'Agata and San Benedetto are also kept inside.
[See 10] Church and former Augustinian convent of San Leonardo Abate
see
#4682b4
Dedicated to the hermit saint of Noblac, the church was built in the mid-16th century as the seat of a brotherhood. Subsequently the Brancifortes wanted to add a cenoby to it to transfer the Reformed Augustinian friars of the Sicilian Centorbina Congregation who until then were housed in a small convent outside the city (today called the Conventazzu). The works were completed in 1630 and the following year the friars moved there. The church and convent were not damaged by the earthquake of 1693. However, following the suppression of ecclesiastical bodies in 1866, the church went into disuse (also due to the lowering of the street level which made access to it impracticable), while the premises of the convent were used as public schools until the 1950s. The entire complex is now in ruins. Of the church, the 17th-century stuccos and the remains of the high altar inside are barely visible. Outside, the front of the entrance door has a frieze with the monogram of Christ inscribed in a sun with twelve rays and an epigraph with the dedication to the titular saint dated 1638. There was a beautiful 17th-century statue depicting San Leonardo Abate, a refined alabaster Madonna of Trapani from the 1400s and numerous other works of art (canvases, marbles and sacred furnishings) now exhibited at the San Nicolò Museum. A papier-mâché statue of Saint Monica (mother of Saint Augustine) was modified to represent the more popular Saint Rita (Augustinian nun) and placed in the mother church of San Nicola.
[See 11] Church and former convent of San Domenico dei Frati Predicatori
see
#4682b4
The Dominican friars arrived in Militello in 1536, at the behest of the Barresi, and here they settled at the Annunziata church outside the city, remaining there until the early 1600s. Subsequently, Prince Francesco Branciforte, to facilitate control over the population by the Holy Inquisition, wanted to transfer the seat of the Dominicans to the city, and had them build the new church and the new convent which were inaugurated in 1613. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, both were soon redone. The church that can be seen today, one of the largest in Militello, is characterized by a large classical façade, with a spire-shaped tympanum, and a hall-like interior, decorated with stuccos, with a deep presbytery. Inside it housed six stone chapels with carvings, among which the one of the Madonna del Rosario stood out with a canvas by Mario Minniti from 1620 (now lost). Although the convent and the church suffered the effects of the suppression of 1866, the latter continued to function until the mid-1900s, when it was now unsafe and finally stripped of all its furnishings and abandoned (some surviving works are in Santa Maria della Stella and in San Benedetto). The premises of the convent instead housed a kindergarten (Asilo Laganà Campisi), schools and private homes. Fortunately, the entire complex was recovered and enhanced in the early 2000s. The church is now used as a Municipal Auditorium, while the former convent houses a conference room, the "Angelo Majorana" Municipal Library, the Civic Museum, the Historical Archive and the Civic Art Gallery "
[See 12] Church and former convent of San Francesco d'Assisi of the Friars Minor Conventual
see
#4682b4
According to an ancient tradition, supported by documentary evidence, the convent was founded in 1235 by Friar Paolo da Venezia, a disciple of San Francesco d'Assisi, and remained in operation until it was suppressed in 1866. It was one of the first Franciscan convents in Sicily. Rebuilt several times following calamitous events and the wear and tear of time, today only the church remains, as the entire convent building, now dilapidated and unsafe, was demolished in 1964. Of the ancient convent, which essential in its forms, only the compartment of the cistern, some connecting corbels of the colonnaded portico of the cloister and a compartment used today as a sacristy (presbytery area of the pre-earthquake church of 1693) can be identified. The church, on the other hand, has a simple portal with a carved window in the façade and graceful neoclassical-style stuccoes inside. It used to be embellished with various canvases (some by Filippo Paladini) mainly depicting Franciscan saints, today transferred to the "San Nicolò" Museum for safety reasons and better use. On December 8 of each year the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated, of which a valuable polychrome wooden statue made in 1693 by the sculptor Camillo Confalone is preserved.
[See 13] Church and convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli of the Capuchin Friars
see
#4682b4
The convent of the Capuchin friars of Militello was commissioned in 1575 by Caterina Barresi, a few years after the death of her brother Vincenzo, first Marquis of Militello. Next to the convent there was already a small church which however was rebuilt in 1582. The building withstood the tremors of 1693, the few ruined parts were rebuilt and completed in 1709. The church with a single nave has several carved chapels and an extraordinary high altar in wood that frames the superb altarpiece with Santa Maria degli Angeli and six saints painted in 1612 by Filippo Paladini. The altarpiece also hides a rich carved reliquary from 1777 with over 500 relics of saints. In an altar of the church the body of San Feliciano Martire is displayed, brought here from Rome. In the past, the convent was the seat of the novitiate and housed various provincial chapters of the Order. In this church, near the altar of the Madonna, the Servant of God Father Biagio da Caltanissetta (1634-1684), a Capuchin preacher, famous during his lifetime for numerous miracles, is buried. Following the suppression of 1866, the building became state property but was redeemed. Until the early 1980s, it was still inhabited by friars. Today, due to lack of monks, the church, property of the Capuchin Province of Syracuse, is entrusted to the monks of the Capuchin convent of Augusta (SR), who celebrate Mass there once a month. The convent, on the other hand, is entrusted on loan for use to a private charitable institution.
[See 14] Church and former convent of San Francesco di Paola all'Annunziata dei Frati Minimi
see
#4682b4
This church was commissioned by the baron of Militello Antonio Piero Barresi around 1480 and dedicated to Maria SS. Annunziata. Between 1503 and 1515, it was considerably enlarged and a monastery was added to it where the Dominican friars settled. In 1613 the Dominicans moved to the new convent built for them in the centre of the city, and the Minim Friars of San Francesco di Paola settled in their place. The latter wanted to name the church after their founder and rebuild the monastery, remaining there until 1866, the year in which the complex was seized by the Italian state and passed to the Municipality of Militello, which in turn gave it to the Congregation of Charity to use as a hospital. The early 16th-century church, with a single nave, presented the outside a portico supported by columns under which the Glory of Paradise and the Pains of Purgatory were depicted in fresco; inside, however, it had three richly sculpted white stone chapels. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was repaired and decorated with simple and graceful carvings on the facade and valuable late Baroque stuccoes inside, still visible today. Only the stuccoes of the main altar, which frame the statue of San Francesco di Paola, are from before the earthquake. The church, which remained in operation until the early 2000s, is now in a state of abandonment and needs urgent restoration.
[See 15] Palazzo Baldanza
see
#4682b4
It was built in the 18th century and occupies an entire block. It has six balconies with rich masked corbels and festoons in the pilasters. It is enriched by a luxuriant garden which is now surrounded by a wall. It belonged to the noble Caruso family, whose main branch died out at the end of the 18th century, with the baron Don Antonino Caruso who died childless; while the secondary branch in the early years of the 19th century, with Donna Marianna Caruso-Scuderi, married to Antonino Malgioglio and Cardaci di Ramacca.
[See 16] Palazzo Baldanza-Denaro
see
#4682b4
It was built in the early 17th century. It is the seat of the "Pro Loco" Tourist Association. It too has balconies decorated with rich Baroque carvings in the corbels and pilasters. It belonged to Signora Denaro, widow Basso La Bianca.
[See 17] Palazzo Iatrini
see
#4682b4
It is a splendid noble residence dating back to 1717. Outside it offers a magnificent balcony supported by richly carved shelves with masks. Inside it has numerous rooms, including a courtyard with a cistern and a garden. It belonged to the ancient Militellese family of the Iatrini who saw in many of its illustrious jurists and religious exponents, such as Mons. Alfio Iatrini, prior of the cathedral of Catania and Mons. Can. Iatrini Dr. Francesco, Supernumerary Secret Waiter of His Holiness and Vicar Forane of Militello. The last exponent of the family, in 1995, donated the entire building to the Sanctuary of S. Maria della Stella.
[See 18] Palazzo Iatrini-Troia
see
#4682b4
Its construction was completed in 1771, and has six balconies with late Baroque frames and corbels. Wanted by Baron Reforgiato of Linziti, it later passed to the Costantino family and then to the Iatrini. It was used until the 1960s as the seat of the Tax Agency and then as a religious house. Today it is owned by the parish of S. Maria della Stella.
[See 19] Palazzo Liggieri
see
#4682b4
It is a large building that closes off Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II for an entire side. In addition to the size, this eighteenth-century building is characterized by the remarkable Baroque carvings of the balconies and the large ashlar portal surmounted by the noble coat of arms.
[See 20] Palazzo Majorana della Nicchiara
see
#4682b4
Rare testimony of 16th-century civil construction, the enormous building was commissioned by the Barresi family as the seat of the jury court and the capital court (the two main administrative bodies of the city). Although remodeled in later periods, and owned several times (including the Majorana-Cocuzzella barons of Nicchiara), it has the original ashlar cantonals, enriched by severe stone lions from the Middle Ages recovered from older buildings.
[See 21] Palazzo Niceforo
see
#4682b4
Built in the 18th century, it has a very rich telamon portal. It is one of the most beautiful examples of post-earthquake aristocratic building.
[See 22] Palazzo Oliva
see
#4682b4
It dates back to the 17th-18th centuries. It has an elegant carved window, in Mannerist style, on whose tympanum there is a marble heraldic coat of arms. It first belonged to the Calatina family of the Interlandi princes of Bellaprima (the parish priest of San Nicola don Lorenzo Interlandi lived there), in the first half of the 18th century it passed to the illustrious Tinnirello family from Militello who lived there until 1921, hosting the ground floor homonymous pharmacy, and finally to the Oliva family.
[See 23] Palazzo Sciannaca
see
#4682b4
It was built in the 19th century in classical forms, in the same place where the ancient summer palace of the Barresi once stood. In 1936 Pippo Baudo was born there.
[See 24] Church and Necropolis of Santa Maria la Vetere
see
#4682b4
It was founded in the Norman age (end of 11th century) on the site of an older Christian cemetery. For centuries it was the parish of the feudal lords of the city and of the militellesi linked by language or socio-economic condition to the dominant ethnic group, beginning with the Normans and Lombards who came to the island following the conquest, or immigrated in the following decades and naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom of Sicily alongside the previous ethnic groups of Siculo-Greeks, Arabs and Jews. Destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it was abandoned in the exercise of parish functions due to the damage caused by the earthquake of 1693.
[See 01] Gate of the Earth
see
#4682b4
Ancient gate attached to the castle buildings.
[See 02] Fountain of the Nymph Zizza
see
#4682b4
It was built in 1607 in the southern courtyard of the castle to celebrate the construction of the first aqueduct of Militello, commissioned by Prince Francesco Branciforte. Mannerist in shape with an octagonal basin, in which one could admire the precious marble bas-relief depicting the Ninfa Zizza by Giandomenico Gagini. The original bas-relief, for the purpose of its greater protection, has been replaced by a plaster copy.
[See 03] Church of the Holy Cross
see
#4682b4
It was built in the mid-1400s. Its legendary origins are told, but more likely it was built by the Barresi, lords of the city, with the aim of marking the boundaries of their territory, as well as to ensure the sacraments to the peasants residing in those districts. Partially collapsed in the 19th century, and rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, the small church still retains some original structures: the arched presbytery arch on which is set a ribbed cross vault supported by corbels in the late Gothic style; on the altar a fresco, remodeled several times and now very damaged, depicting the Triumph of the Holy Cross. On May 1st of each year, Holy Mass is celebrated with a concourse of people.
[See 04] Church of Conventazzu and Greek fortifications
see
#4682b4
It was dedicated to San Michele. It was annexed to the hermitage which housed the Augustinian friars until their transfer to the city (17th century). The ruins that can be seen are from the 16th century. The monastic complex was set on the remains of a Greek fortification, still visible.
[See 05] Necropolis of Castelluzzo
see
#4682b4
Necropolis dating from the Bronze Age (3rd-2nd millennium BC) to the Iron Age (10th-8th century BC). The tombs have different characteristics: some have cells with an elliptical plan and a vaulted ceiling, while others have a cell with an elliptical or quadrangular plan and a flat ceiling. All with multiple depositions.
[See 06] Santa Barbara Necropolis
see
#4682b4
NoDesc
[See 07] Necropolis of Piano Maenza
see
#4682b4
NoDesc