Chiesa di San Domenico

St. Dominic's Church is the second in importance after the Cathedral, located in the namesake square, in the district "La Loggia". It was built between 1458 and 1480 in Renaissance style, but the current configuration is the latest result from the total reconstruction of 1640, by the architect Andrea Cirrincione. The facade is of 1726. In 1853 the church became the pantheon of illustrious Sicilians, who began to be buried in it. The architecture, typically Baroque scenic, consists of a pediment with two bell towers, adorned with stucco statues depicting Saints and popes, over twelve columns arranged in pairs. The interior is spacious and austere, in Billiemi stone, and preserves some important works of art from the Baroque period. The right nave houses the St. Joseph's Chapel, commissioned by Don Giovanni Stefano Oneto, Duke of Sperlinga: Baroque, with polychrome inlays marble, friezes, putti and twisted columns, was performed and designed by Gaspare Guercio in 1665. The statue of St. Joseph, on the altar, is a work by Antonello Gagini. The vault (1898) is by Ernesto Basile, raised in devotion to the venerable St. Dominic from Soriano Calabro. The side walls, used as tombs, are sumptuous animated by cherubs, stucco, inlays marble, busts, medallions and décor worthy of the Sicilian Baroque at its height. The Chapel dedicated to St. Dominic, equally gorgeous marble, stucco, friezes, scrolls and inlays, houses the altarpiece "St. Dominic's Ecstasy", eighteen small panels that narrate episodes of the miraculous Saint's life. The altar is surrounded by groups of columns with Corinthian capitals. The right nave features the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, with the altarpiece of 1540, by Vincenzo of Azani, depicting the "Madonna of the Rosary's Mystery." The two precious eighteenth century organs, in gilded wood, are placed on either side of the apse. Behind the altar there is a large wooden choir in walnut of 1700.