Church of Santa Maria della Speranza
Entrance from Via Agostino Catalano n. 124.
What remains of this monument represents an equally lost testimony of Norman Palermo architecture, in that area that in the twelfth century was part of the 'genoard' of Arab memory: that is, the territory between the current Corso Calatafimi, Corso Pisani and mezzo Monreale, which collects Cuba, small Cuba, the Zisa and the remains of the Scibene.
Santa Maria della Speranza is today one of the most forgotten architectural places by the Palermitans themselves. The rediscovery of the church was due, in the last century, to Nino Basile; in recent decades, however, few Sicilian art history books have mentioned it. Elio Tocco, in his 'Guide to Sicily that disappears' - published in 1984 by Sugarco - recalls the ancient origins of a place now abandoned to decay and for some time “forbidden” to public use.
"In the place where today are the few remains of the Norman church of Santa Maria della Speranza - wrote Tocco - there was a large female monastery in 595, in which, by order of Pope Gregory the Great, some nuns of the convent of San Martino, ree apparently, of serious "unrest" ... the name of the monastery dates back to this episode, from the just hope that the nuns had to return to the good retreat of San Martino ".
In the Arab era, the convent of Santa Maria della Speranza was probably destroyed, so that the surviving structures of the building seem to refer to the second half of the XNUMXth century. The architectural elements still identifiable today are found in the façade: the remains of an entrance portal, with 'chevron' decoration, and two blind windows, with cheek-shaped ashlars, in line with what can still be admired today in the upper orders of the corner towers of the Cathedral and in the one that precedes the entrance to the church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio. The entire building - which shows the signs of XNUMXth century renovations - shows some cracks, while the interior is totally inaccessible. Il Tocco, in his guide, documented that the Norman structures were used as warehouses, "cluttered with timber, crates and machines, with whitewashed walls, completely disfigured": an intended use that the passing of decades has not probably modified. However, finding this aspect of the abandonment of Santa Maria della Speranza was not possible: an elderly caretaker of the coach and truck parking area immediately approached us, emphasizing the prohibition of access to the area and inviting us not to take any photographs of the church, in addition to the one - the only one - already preserved in the digital memory of our device.
Thus, the very memory of this precious example of Norman architecture remains forbidden, in addition to the Palermitans, even to the simple desire for documentation: then all that remains is to finally trust in the intervention of the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage, in the hope of saving what remains of it. that Nino Basile thus remembered, almost a century ago: "At the gates of Palermo there are completely forgotten remains of one of the most ancient Christian monuments, of the most glorious period of Christian art, and of which memory has been lost ..." (Source text : http://www.lionspalermodeivespri.it/wordpress/2010/02/13/santa-maria-della-speranza/comment-page-1/)
Property bound under the law 1089/1939 (DM 08/03/1947).
Card insertion: Ignatius Caloggero
Photo: web - lacittascoperta-palermo.blogutore.repubblica.it/2016/05/12/il-palazzo-della-marchesa-milletari-che-ospito-suor-rosalia-futura-patrona/
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Web
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