Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Santa Lucia del Mela

La Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Santa Lucia del Mela witnesses the country's continuous changes. The people who occupy the town in fact modify its structure and are bearers of culture and beauty. The building is enriched with various furnishings and accompanies the life of the people of Lucie over the centuries.

The history of Santa Lucia del Mela and the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi

Saint Lucia del Mela it's a small town in the Tyrrhenian hinterland province of Messina built on one of the highest peaks of the Peloritani Mountains, in Valley of the Mela River. The original plan of ancient Mankarru was built by the Sicans and then by the Sicels and in the history of the town various dominations followed one another.

The Arabs in particular occupied the country for 200 years and enriched it with buildings and furnishings typical of their art and culture.

In the 1094 Count Ruggero D'Altavilla defeats the Saracens, changes the name of the town to Santa Lucia for a vow made to the Saint and had several civil buildings and churches built. The country is at the center of the silk trade and in 1206 the emperor Frederick II with a special act he separated the town from the diocese of Patti and entrusted it to his chaplain Gregorio Mostaccio. Santa Lucia becomes a place of leisure and rest and in the early seventeenth century is built there Church of San Francesco with an adjoining convent which is one of the symbols of the continuous change of the town.

In fact, in 1902 the convent was transformed into a military and then civil hospital and finally became a retirement home for the elderly. The church, however, was partly demolished to create a square with a lookout which in 1860 was Giuseppe Garibaldi's lookout point before the battle of Corriolo. A plaque on the external wall of the church commemorates the event.

The architecture and works kept in the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Santa Lucia del Mela

The Church of San Francesco d'Assisi comes built in 1622 by the Capuchin friars.

The building has a square plan with altars against the walls and the ceiling has cross vaults. On the right wall you can admire an XNUMXth century canvas depicting Saint Francis of Assisi with the stigmata. On the same wall there is also a wooden statue depicting Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus. The left side has an eighteenth-century wooden crucifix and a plaster statue of the Immaculate Conception. The church also houses a painting that portrays the Virgin with Santa Chiara, Santa Rosa and San Bartolomeo and various elements that recall the Franciscan order and underline the link with the Saint. The central wall of the church is in fact enriched by a plaster medallion of the Franciscan coat of arms and there is also a funerary monument dedicated to a religious of that order who is depicted with his head resting on a pillow, a closed book and drawings of skulls and of bones tied by a Franciscan cord.

What to do in Santa Lucia del Mela

The Church of San Francesco is just one of the beauties of Santa Lucia del Mela. In fact, the town holds a Norman castle with an imposing cylindrical tower that stands at the highest point of the town. The fortification is built with lava materials that come from Etna and the quarries of the Aeolian Islands and resists the passage of time.
The center of power of the country has been for centuries Bishop's Palace, the home of the prelate who is the king's spiritual and political advisor. The Palace was built in the seventeenth century with great pomp and suffered considerable damage in the earthquake of 1783, but was subsequently renovated and embellished with polychrome marble and damask on the walls according to the fashion of the time. Not far away Co-Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta welcomes the visitor with a marble portal from 1485, while inside it has a Latin cross plan with Renaissance architecture. The Co-Cathedral houses various works of art such as the marble statue of Saint Lucia from the 1485th century, attributed to Francesco Laurana, the 1676th century painting "Assumption" by Fra Felice da Palermo, the "Baptismal font" by Gabriele di Battista from XNUMX and the canvas of the "Immaculate Conception" by Filippo Jannelli of XNUMX.

How to get to the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Santa Lucia del Mela

By car:: from Messina take the A20 motorway from viale Boccetta in the direction of the SS113 towards San Filippo del Mela. Take the Milazzo exit and continue on the SP66ter in the direction of via S. Mariella in Santa Lucia del Mela, then follow the signs for via Giuseppe Garibaldi.