ACIREALE - Church of San Camillo

Dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie, the church in Acireale is known as the church of San Camillo because, as soon as its construction was completed, it was entrusted to the care of the Camillians who arrived in Acireale around 1740. The construction work began in 1730 and was completed thanks to the donations of the wealthy Pietro Barrabini, a noble man of letters of Genoese origin whose family moved first to Messina and then to Acireale. In 1743, the year of Barrabini's death, the young Camillian Litterio Risitano arrived in Acireale and worked hard to ensure that the now famous painter from Acireale Pietro Paolo Vasta frescoed the church. The frescoes were painted between 1743 and 1745, during Vasta's maturity, who by then had gained great fame not only for his skill with the brush but also for his mastery of the division of architectural spaces acquired following his meeting with Filippo Juvarra during his studies at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. The church stands on the eighteenth-century Via Galatea and is raised above the street level as it was built on a difference in height of about one meter and fifty. The façade develops in height and is circumscribed by two large pilasters, that is, fake columns in white stone, supported by bases of lava stone and embellished with Doric capitals. Walking along the nave from the entrance towards the presbytery, and observing the left side, you can admire the fresco of "Judith and Holofernes". Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, orders his general Holofernes to subjugate all the peoples who occupy the western part of his kingdom, including the Jews. Judith then goes to Holofernes' camp, who is enchanted by her beauty. The woman stays three days in the general's tent, but on the fourth day, when the man is asleep, with the help of her maid, she cuts off his head. Continuing along the same side, we find the fresco "Bathsheba and Solomon" by Pietro Paolo Vasta. Bathsheba goes to her son Solomon to intercede on behalf of her other son Adonijah. The fresco portrays the moment in which Solomon welcomes his mother and offers her his throne. On the opposite side, we can see the fresco "Esther and Ahasuerus" by Pietro Paolo Vasta. Having survived the persecution of her people while still young, Esther is taken to the court of King Ahasuerus, who, enraptured by her beauty, decides to marry her. Esther, having learned the day on which the Jews must be exterminated, decides to present herself before the king to save her people. Then, she enters the king's rooms without his consent and, seeing Ahasuerus' angry look, faints. The fresco depicts the moment when she loses consciousness and is supported by her maid. The last scene depicts "Abigal and Sisera". The small space of the presbytery is almost entirely occupied by the baroque altar made of polychrome marble and enriched by green twisted columns and decorated with gilded stucco leaf vines. The right side of the presbytery is entirely occupied by the fresco of the "Birth of Mary" by Pietro Paolo Vasta. The story of the happy event takes place through two distinct scenes. In the foreground, a group of young women, symbolic images of the virtues, take care of the newborn. Mary was clothed with every virtue from her birth. Further back, Saint Anne, who had recently given birth to Mary, and Saint Joachim, the elderly parents of the Virgin, can be recognized. The birth of Mary is part of the biblical tradition of late motherhood and shows that God, as he did with Abraham, keeps his promises. On the vault of the nave, in the first span near the choir, you can see "The Virgin conquers sin" while in the second span you can see "The Angel Gabriel is sent by the Father" by Pietro Paolo Vasta. The cycle ends with the fresco in the apse with the "Glory of Mary" by Pietro Paolo Vasta. The canvas "Glory of Saint Philip" shows the founder of the ministers of the sick now in the glory of heaven. In the altar of the crucifix there is an imposing crucifix, a wooden work by an anonymous artist dating back to the 18th century. The presence in this church, as in almost all the churches of Acireale, of an altar of the crucifix is ​​a sign of the great devotion of the Acireale people towards the passion of Christ consolidated over time and begun after the arrival of the Jesuit Luigi La Nuza who came to Acireale to preach during Lent in 1656.
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Filmed with PANASONIC S5II and INSTA360 X4 in November 2024
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[@soniafogliazza2497]

Grazie dei bellissimi video ne ho visti moltissimi...non esiste un centimetro di Sicilia che non sia fantastico

[@MassimoNalli]

@@soniafogliazza2497 grazie a te ciao

[@sydneyr.cauveren7857]

Thanks - as ALWAYS, Massimo!

[@MassimoNalli]

@@sydneyr.cauveren7857 👍👍

[@valentinagrilli1536]

bella chiesa