MONUMENTS

In the old Badia, is the Civic Museum, which is dedicated to Francesco Minà Palumbo, a local scholar; there is a display of both naturalistic and archaeological material found in the surrounding area. In Via Umberto I we come to a 16th c. fountain, known as the Fontana di Venere Ciprigna; from here we go up to the Matrice Nuova, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, founded in the early 17th c. and considerably altered in the 19th. An ornate and striking church, in basilica plan, it contains some works by Giuseppe Velasquez, St Peter Receiving the Keys, and, in the sacristy, The Deposition, together with a 15th c. painted cross hanging from the vault of the presbytery . In the square of Matrice Vecchia, now Piazza Margherita, stands the Chiesa Madre Vecchia, founded in the 14th c. and dedicated to Maria Santissima Assunta. It has an elegant portico with round arches and two marble portals, an interesting campanile with a twolight window and majolica tiles high in the pinnacle. A fourth aisle was added in the 15th c. to the original central nave and two aisles. There are some fine works to be seen: an 18th c. font, with painted doors, and, in the Chapel of the Sacrament, a large 15th c. marble ciborium bearing representations of the birth of Jesus, the Crucifìxion, Angels, Apostles, etc. The polyptych in the high altar shows the Madonna and Child with Saints, the Annunciation, the Etemal Father and, in the predella, the Ecce Homo and the Apostles. Another noteworthy statue attributed to Antonello Gagini is the Madonna degli Angeli (16th c.). From Piazza Margherita, by way of Via Sant'Anna, we reach the open space in front of the Castle, which rises up on two levels: it does not reveal its original architecture but still preserves, despite some alterations, the fortified aspect of a military building, with its quadrangular plan and compact corner towers; inside it is the Chapel of Sant'Anna, builtin the second half of the 17thc. andornatelydecorated with stucco-work, possibly by Giacomo Serpotta. In the high altar there is a silver urn containing relics of St Ann. The Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi, in the square of the same name, is mediaeval in origin; it was altered in the 18th c., while the façade dates from the first decades of the 20th c. It contains a statue of the Virgin and Child, attributed to Antonello Gagini (1528). The Ventimiglia family funeral chapel is very interesting: octagonal in shape, it has a little spirai columns at the corners, and it contains 16th-17th c. tombs. The Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Martire, in Via Mustafà, has a fine wooden crucifix by Fra' Umile da Petralia.

I testi sono tratti dalla "Sicily and its islands" Ugo La Rosa editore.