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| In front
of the Mother Church, there is the ex-church of S.
Nicolò di Bari, built up around 1558 by Pietro
Mastrandrea, chancellor of the brotherhood of the
"White men" whose rule imposed them to cure
the poor sick men of the city and to assure them a
worth burial. The facade shows a beautiful portal
surmounted by an elegant window and a little column
in carved marble, at the corner with Via XI Febbraio.
Entering this street, after few steps, you can admire
the beautiful facade of "Palazzo Fraccia"
(XVIII century), interesting example of Rococo style.
Going on through the "Corso stretto", in
a small square planted with tree, there is the church
of S. |
| Maria del
Soccorso, realized in three naves in the original
structure of the XVI century, and restructured in
1736 with an hexagonal plant. It keeps the entrance
portal with a lunette (XVI century), attributed to
Berrettaro, and in the inside, the typical 16th century
stuccoes and the statue of the "Madonna del Soccorso",
of the same author. Going on with the vist, at the
corner of Via Rossotti, almost in front of the 16th
century Communal Loggia, now used as commercial centre,
we find the church of the "Angelo Custode"
(Guardian Angel), founded in 1659, with the annexed
"Conservatorio delle Reparate" (1684). Rebuilt
in the 18th century by the architect Giovan Biagio
Amico, it keeps some frescoes of unknown author and
two paintings of Domenico la Bruna, L'Angelo Custode
(the guardian angel) and S. Francesca Romana, painted
in 1738. At the end of Via Rossotti, near the 17th
century Palazzo Rossotti, of which we can admire the
beautiful central balcony, one of the most ancient
monuments of the city rises: the church of the SS.
Salvatore or "Badia Grande" (Big Abbey),
which has been recently changed into a "musical
auditorium". It has been built during the 14th
century and widened in the 16th century; its present
structure is due to the 18th century reconstruction |
| The inside
has got only one nave. At the walls there is a series
of stucco statues of Bartolomeo Sanseverino (1758),
apprentice of Serpotta, and, at the vault, frescoes
of Carlo Brunetti (XVIII century), who is even the
author of the painting "Trasfigurazione"
situated on the main altar. It also keeps two paintings,
which have been attributed to Pietro Novelli, "L'Estasi
di S. Teresa" and "L'Assunzione", one
statue representing St. Benedict from Norcia made
by Antonino Gagini (1545) and a marble case always
of Gagini and Baldassare Massa (XVI century). In the
near Piazza Libertà, we find the rests of the
church of the "Annunziata", lonly example
of Gothic-Catalan style in Alcamo. Of the original
structure (XIV century), which has been several times
rehandled in the future centuries, remain some columns
of the right nave, a part of the apse and some chapels
with refined decorative elements. Continuing through
"corso VI Aprile" towards "Porta Palermo",
in Via De Ballis you can see the interesting Tower
of House De Ballis (which belonged to a noble and
rich family coming from Piacenza), one of the rarest
examples in Alcamo of civil architecture of the 15th
century. It keeps its original battlement and elegant
windows. |
| he visit
to the small jewel of the church of Ss. Cosma and
Damiano is a must. It has been built around the XVI
century and restructured in 1721 with an hexagonal
plant, according to the plan of the architect Giuseppe
Mariani, it recalls the baroque elegance of Borromini's
module. There, you can admire two splendid paintings
of Borremans (XVIII century), "L'Immacolata"
(at the main altar) and "La Madonna col Bambino
tra Santi" (at the second altar on the right),
two paintings of Andrea Carrera "La Madonna del
Rosario" (1658) and "La Madonna degli Angeli"
(1669), and two wonderful stucco statues, skillful
works of Giacomo Serpotta: the "Carità"
and the "Justice" in which there is an expressive
strength and a stylistic rigour which exalts the essence
of the baroque art. In front of it, there is the church
of St. Thomas (1450), one of the monuments of greatest
historical and architectonic value in the city. In
the facade, there is a splendid portal composed by
cordons decorated with floral motifs, acanthus leaves
and other refined ornaments, and surmounted by an
elegant little window. All this shows a remarkable
plastic-chiaroscuro effect, and offers a synthesis
of the swabian-chiaramontan style. The inside has
got a nave with two cross-vaults divided by one arch,
supported by two big columns, having capitals with
acanthus leaves and wickers' plaits. |
| Before going
out of the corso, in Piazza Vespri, there is the church
of St. Francis of Assisi, rebuilt in 1716 and going
back, with the annexed convent, to 1348. In its inside
there are two remarkable marble statues realized in
1520 by Antonello Gagini, "S. Marco" and
"Maddalena", and a marble ancona attributed
to Giacomo Gagini (1586). Among the paintings, of
great interest are, at the main altar, a 16th century
painting of Andrea Carrera, "S. Francesco d'Assisi
che chiede l'indulgenza della Porziuncola", and,
in the chapel of the Virgin Mary, a painting of Giuseppe
Carrera (1610). In the neighbourhood, two interesting
architectonic elements of the XV-XVI centuries are
visible: in the near "piazzetta Leopardi",
the elegant portal in carved stone of the so-called
"house of Ciullo" (actually the house, perhaps
of a notable, going back to the end of the 16th century);
in a building in Via Solferino you can see an elegant
window with a little spiral column, which is an unusual
element in Alcamo recalling the 15th century architecture
of Genoa. You leave "corso 6 Aprile" through
the 19th century "Porta Palermo" (1961)
decorated by two bronze bas-reliefs, realised by the
sculptor Giuseppe Rubino (1901-1984). |
| They represent
"working scenes in Alcamo" and Cielo d'Alcamo
being crowned poet by a winged "Glory" at
the presence of Frederic II the Swabian. Walking through
via Florio (a street, which run along the edge of
the ancient oriental walls until the past century)
then turning on the right for Via Commendadore Navarra,
we arrive at the church of S. Francis from Paola or
"della Badia Nuova", which was founded,
with the annexed monastery, between 1531 and 1540
and then rebuilt in 1699 according to a plan of Giovanni
Amico. At the walls of the only nave, you can admire
eight remarkable stucco statues of Giacomo Serpotta,
which have been realized in 1724 (Mildness, Peace,
S. Peter, S. Paul, Fortress, Purity, the Addolorata
and the Maddalena), a remarkable painting of Peter
Novelli (XVII century), St. Benedict, distributing
the Rule, and St. Francis from Paola, painting of
Andrea Carrera of 1652. |
| Back again
in Piazza Ciullo we reach, near Via Amendola, the
church of St. Domenico or "del Rosario",
built up in 1660 and restructured in 1761. Of remarkable
historical interest is "La Madonna della Stella"
(the Virgin Mary of the Star), which is a fresco realised
in 1464, perhaps by Tommaso De Vigilia for the church
of S. Maria della Stella (which was elected in 1313
first Mother church of Alcamo. Its rests are in the
same street), from which it has been removed, together
with the wall on which it has been painted, in occasion
of the transfer of the Dominican Fathers to their
new seat. Among the other works, of great interest
is a 17th century painting of Vito Carrera, "La
Madonna del Rosario", a bas-relief of the Gagini
school, "La morte della Vergine" (the death
of the Virgin Mary), and a precious painted Cross
hung at ceiling (XV century). Wg through the "Corso
6 Aprile", where you can see numerous noble palaces,
among which "Palazzo Pastore" (XIX century),
another must is the church of Ss. Paul and Bartho-lomew.
It was built up in 1689 on a 16th century preexisting
structure, which had an annexed hospital of the incurables,
and it is considered the highest expression of the
baroque style in Alcamo. The inside, with a latin
cross plan and three naves, is richly decorated with
18th century putties and frescoes. Among the works,
in addition to the painting of St. Peter and St. Paul,
of Giuseppe Felice realised in 1761, of great interest
is "La Madonna del Miele" (the Virgin Mary
of the Honey), a painting of the end of the 14th century,
which has been fixed to an oval table and which has
been already attributed to Tommaso De Vigilia or Guglielmo
De Pesaro, but the recent restorations have evidenced
in it the influence of the school of Duccio di Boninsegna
and Simone Martini. Still going through the "corso",
we enter on the right, in Via Francesco Crispi at
the end of which there is the church of the "Crocifisso"
or of "St. Francis from Paola" founded in
1550 and then rebuilt during the 18th century. The
most interesting part is the unique convex facade,
which is a remarkable interpretation of the rococo
architecture. In the sacristy rooms there is a beautiful
crucifix of Giovanni Matinati (1549). Always from
Piazza Ciullo, walking through Via Discesa Santuario,
at the end of which, in the ancient quarter of St.
Vito (one of the first settlements at Mount Bonifato's
feet), we find the rests of an ancient "Arab
Fountain", and we reach the "Santuario di
Maria SS. dei Miracoli". The church, erected
at the end of the 16th century, rises on the place
where, on the 21st June 1547, the miraculous image
of the Virgin Mary had been found. The present structure
goes back to the beginning of the 18th century and
shows, in the outside, several styles, from the Baroque
to the Renaissance. Of remarkable interest are the
portal, the two 17th century carved windows and the
elegant baroque bell tower enriched by a majolica
spire. In the inside, in addition to the typical 18th
century decorations, we find, near the entrance door,
the sarcophagus of the Captain Fernando Vega, which
has been sculptured in 1556 by Rocco Rapi; a bas-relief
of the Gagini school; a precious 17th century holy-water
font, and some paintings: the Nativity of the Virgin,
the Sacred Family and the Annunciation, of Giuseppe
Patania (1828), and the Birth of the Virgin and the
Immaculata, of Friar Felice from Sambuca |
| Few kilometers
northwards, on an evocative rock, which dominates
the surrounding landscape, there is the castle of
Calatubo, a byzantine fortress, which had been rebuilt
by the Arabs, and which is today in a complete state
of abandonment. In the same locality, there have been
discovered two necropolis, an Arabic one and a Greek
one, with hundreds of graves containing many important
finds. On Mount Bonifato, in the middle of the forest
(110 hectares of pine-wood which compose one of the
natural reserves of Sicily), in the place where the
muslim settlement rose until the XIV century, there
are the rests of some monumental medieval buildings:
at the top, the tower of the castle of the Ventimiglia
family (XIII century), called "saracen tower";
in the lower part the "Porta della Regina"
(the Queen's gate), one of the gates of the town;
at the southern edge of the pine-forest, there are
the rests of the "Funtanazza" (the big fountain),
a great water tank; finally, on the north-west side,
you can see the traces of the ancient sycan-elym village.
The forest, set up at the beginning of the century,
instead of a cork-wood, which has been destroyed,
is composed by species which are typical of this area
and by others which have been introduced from the
outside (Domestic Pines, Aleppo Pines, Cypresses,
Holm oaks, Carobs, Plane-trees, and Palms). Typical
of the underwood are the Pistacia Lentisca, the Chamaerops
humilis, the "Ampelo-desma", the "Ferula",
the "Terebinto" and many other plants. It
is easy to meet there the the Bonelli Eagle and the
Buzzard, the Fox, the Weasel, and some reptiles among
which the Green Lizard, the Coluber and the Viper. |
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