Church of S. Maria di Valverde - Palermo

S. Maria di Valverde square. Erected in the sixteenth century and rebuilt in the seventeenth by Mariano Smiriglio. He was responsible for the marble decorations. The church was seriously damaged during the Second World War and it was possible to reopen it to the public only in 1997 after a long restoration started between 1979 and 1980. The building, with a single nave, is embellished inside with frescoes by Antonio Grano in the vault and on the walls of the choir and by Olivio Sozzi on the lower band, made in 1570. The sculptures and marble inlays arranged inside the four chapels of the large nave (one of which is dedicated to Saint Lucia) are instead due to Andrea Palma and Paolo Amato. The latter also created the side portal in gray stone. The plan of the church has a rectangular hall with a semicircular presbytery and choir at the entrance, supported by a large arch. The bell tower, divided into three orders, was added in 1730

There is a twelfth century crypt.

In-depth study: Pietro Todaro: The subsoil of Palermo - 1988. Downloadable at the following ACCADEMIA.EDU address: https://www.academia.edu/6581858/Il_Sottosuolo_di_Palermo

Card insertion: Ignatius Caloggero

Photo: web

Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Web 

Property included in the Multimedia Archive of Esoteric Cultural Heritage

The property has been recognised as a property that could present characteristics attributable to theCultural EsotericismGroup belonging: A

Methodological note: 

The assets entered in the archive are divided into three groups, based on their level of recognition and documentation:

• Group A – Well signposted: This includes cultural assets identified as potentially esoteric. This is an initial observation phase, during which the asset is studied, compared with sources, and critically evaluated.
• Group B – Recognized asset: It includes assets for which there are reliable studies and documentation attesting to their belonging to the Esoteric Cultural Heritage, but which are not yet accompanied by the complete esoteric profile.
• Group C – Well documented: It contains fully recognized and analyzed items, accompanied by a detailed esoteric description illustrating their symbolic meanings, interpretations, and historical-cultural context. This is the most advanced level of documentation within the archive.

To ensure rigor and interpretative consistency, the archive is based on a rigorous methodology aimed at avoiding the indiscriminate inclusion of cultural assets. To this end, specific criteria are adopted: recognition tools and a classification system, illustrated in the project Archive of Cultural Esotericism, described on the external site Experiential itineraries, to which we refer for further methodological information.