Church of the Jesuit College
The construction of the church began in 1684 thanks to the savings set aside by the Jesuits, who had the church built on land donated to them by the Municipality of Alcamo. In exchange for this land, the Jesuits undertook to carry out various building improvement works at their own expense, in particular:
- the addition of six steps to the Porta Stella, through which one entered the walled city;
- the arrangement of the giarrottawhich carried water from the spring outside the walls of the walled city to the fountain it served as watering place for animals. The latter had to be moved from Piazza Ciullo and placed in the new location close to the ditch tower (which today corresponds to today's Via Mazzini). In this way the road that was used for the animals to drink was diverted: this was necessary because with the construction of the church of the Gesù their passage would have been hindered.
On 7 June 1725 the Alcamese father Vincenzo Monteleone, at the time rector of the Jesuit college, obtained the appointment of procurator for the construction of this church which at the time had only been erected at a height of 8 palms from the east facing side. the city walls.
On 29 July 1764 the church was inaugurated with a solemn ceremony; it was later adorned with stuccoes and in 1767 its construction was completed, which lasted a total of 80 years, so the people of Alcamo called it the "church of Rappezzo".
In 2014 the facade of the church was the subject of a consolidation work.
The façade of the church dominates Piazza Ciullo, towards which it faces. It is in Baroque style and is enriched by pilasters with Doric-Tuscan and Ionic style capitals. On this facade five niches have been obtained which contain (from bottom to top) the statues of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier, the Madonna dei Miracoli (patron saint of the city of Alcamo) and the archangels Michael and Raphael. The three statues found below were restored free of charge in 1931 by the Alcamo sculptor Giuseppe Bambino. This restoration was necessary to remedy their damage caused by Garibaldi's troops, who upon their entry into the city (which took place on May 17, 1860) threw stones and rifle shots on them.
Above the central balcony a remote-controlled pendulum clock was placed in 1989 to replace an older one that previously adorned the bell tower of the mother church of Alcamo, now no longer functional, while on the sides there are two bell towers surmounted by triangular cusps. Inside a bell tower there are three bells called "Sant'Ignazio di Loyola", "San Francesco Saverio" and "Sacred Heart of Jesus Monstrance". On the top of the facade there is a marble crown in memory of the Spanish rule in Sicily.
Access to the church is through a main entrance in Piazza Ciullo and a side entrance in via Mazzini. The main entrance is provided with a stone staircase (called by the people of Alcamo "li Carrubbazzi stone").
The church has a single nave inside and is surmounted by a barrel vault. The walls and the apse are decorated with rococo-style stuccos (frames and wallpapers) completed in 1767, (the year of the expulsion of the Jesuits from the church), perhaps made by Giovanni and Francesco Russo, who were assistants to Lorenzo Curti as young people.
The dome was built in its present form in 1962; under it there was a plaque with the letters "PX" (now missing) which indicated the entrance to the crypt which extended for a depth of six meters towards the main altar, where the members of the deceased company of Jesus were buried . (Source: wikipedia)
Card insertion: Ignatius Caloggero
Photo: Ignazio Caloggero
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Palazzo Marletta website
