Church of San Costantino in Capri Leone

La Church of San Costantino in Capri Leone he has one medieval structure with a stone bell tower that gives the building an austere appearance. Inside the church houses several wooden statues and canvases that testify to the devotion of the Capriolesi over the centuries.

The history of Capri Leone and the Church of San Costantino

Capri Leone is a small village in the province of Messina at the foot of the Nebrodi Mountains facing the Aeolian Islands.

The town is of Greek origin, but there is no evidence of that phase of its history. However, the town is mentioned with the name of Crapisusu in some documents from the Norman era where there is also traces of the noble Vitale De Alojsio, the first owner of the area. From 1348 the fief passed to the Filangieri family who alternated over the centuries with the Balsamo, Branciforti and Cardona families. The Filangieris returned to the village in 1750 after the devastation of the earthquake of 1693 and the flood of 1682 and remained as owners of the village and the surrounding lands until 1812 when feudalism was abolished.

Over the years, large families enriched Capri Leone with various churches and works of art to express their faith and devotion. Among the sacred buildings the most interesting is the Mother Church, the only one in all of Sicily to be dedicated to Saint Constantine Emperor. The structure is medieval but the furnishings, paintings, statues and ornaments are from later periods.

The architecture and works kept in the Church of San Costantino in Capri Leone

The Mother Church of Capri Leone was built in the XNUMXth century with an imposing Bell tower according to the medieval style. The 500th century portal is made of local stone and features floral motifs and figures of saints.

Inside, the church has a single nave with two side chapels and during the eighteenth century it was embellished with a very elaborate ceramic floor. The most valuable work is a seventeenth-century altarpiece which depicts Constantine receiving baptism from Pope Sylvester. The emperor is portrayed kneeling and above the Holy Trinity watches the scene, the author is probably the painter Giuseppe Tomasi da Tortorici, owner of a flourishing Sicilian workshop.
The side altars house two eighteenth-century canvases representing the Immaculate Conception and the Deposition from the Cross and also a plaster statue of Saint Constantine depicted sitting on the throne and supported by four angels. The Church also houses a wooden statue of the Virgin from the XNUMXth century, while chalices and monstrances from the same period are a small treasure not to be missed.

What to do in Capri Leone

In Capri Leone the 30 July Every year tourists and faithful gather for the procession of San Costantino. The statue of the patron saint is carried on the shoulders of the most devout people of the community and the procession starts from the Mother Church and runs through the streets of the historic center. The sacred event is accompanied by a street party with a band, stalls and fireworks. The ancient village with its maze of narrow alleys and winding staircases attracts visitors throughout the year.

In Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III in fact there is Fountain of Lions, a structure composed of a lion and a lioness from whose mouth a strong jet of water flows. The sculpture of the lioness is made of red marble and dates back to the XNUMXth century, while the lion is a concrete work from the early XNUMXs. Also in the historic center the visitor can admire the Church of Maria Santissima Annunziata built between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. The building has a XNUMXth century bell tower and unfortunately it was stripped of most of its works by thieves, but inside it houses the red marble statue of the Blessed Virgin Annunziata by Antonello Gagini, a sculptor from Palermo and exponent of the Renaissance.

How to get to the Church of San Costantino in Capri Leone

By car:, from Messina take the A20 motorway from viale Boccetta in the direction of SP157. After approximately 90 km, exit at Rocca di Capri Leone and follow the signs for the Chiesa Madre which is located in the historic center in via Risorgimento.