ITALIA TOUR

THE CHURCH OF SANTA CHIARA DE NOTO SIRACUSE SICILIE

The church of Santa Chiara de Noto Siracuse Sicilie (officially named the Church of Santa Maria Assunta) is known, in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, near the former Benedictine monastery of the Holy Cross.

Designed by Rosario Gagliardi in the years around 1730, was completed in 1758 and was annexed to the monastery (now used as a museum). The central plan is elliptical, the elliptical model of the Roman churches built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The exterior is characterized by a bell tower, adorned the corners of two capitals.

The architectural style of the Baroque is recognized in most, thanks to the numerous decorations with stucco and cherubs. On the twelve inner columns are the statues of the apostles performed by the decorator and plasterer Basile.

On the main right-wing houses the blade of 1854 Saints Benedict and Scholastica, the painter Palermo Salvatore Lo Forte. In the left hand is kept in a sixteenth-century marble Madonna and Child attributed to Antonello Gagini.

Originally the only door of the church was located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the late eighteenth century it was added another on the side of Via Pier Capponi, due to some work along the course. After completion of the work, however, was found a considerable lowering of the road, which made it unusable so the original portal. Today, the only access to the church is from Via Pier Capponi.

The church has been the subject of extensive restoration work, completed in 2006.