Mother Church of Capaci

Capaciin province of Palermo, is a town that offers many stimulating tourist opportunities to visit and which allow you to enter the true Sicilian spirit such as, the Mother Church dedicated to St. Erasmus Bishop and Martyr by Capaci.

History of the Mother Church of Capaci

During the eighteenth century, after the danger of possible wars with the Arabs that had characterized the previous centuries of Sicily, there was a real demographic explosion which made new buildings necessary to enlarge villages and towns throughout the island.
Capaci also saw the need to build a new one Mother Church after the Antica Matrice built towards the end of the sixteenth century next to the castle right in the original center of Terrevecchia, was insufficient as well as somewhat badly reduced.
In fact, already at the end of the XNUMXth century, the Archpriest at the time began to press the local nobles to finance the building of a new Mother Church.

Not having received a positive result, at the beginning of the eighteenth century the same archpriest made an identical appeal to the merchants of Capaci, wanting to have the new church built outside the then historic center in the new Borgo district.
Thanks to the intervention of Count of Capaci, Ignazio V° the new Mother Church of Capaci was built which will be dedicated to St. Erasmus Bishop and Martyr.

Architecture and any works of art present in the Mother Church of Capaci

The Mother Church of Capaci is remarkable thanks to a prospectus in Baroque which rises from the street level and to a suggestive pincer-shaped staircase characterized by marble paving stones. The majesty of the building is also due to its three entrances where, on the main one, there is a plaque where the dedication is engraved.

The plan is in the shape of a particularly elongated octagon divided into three naves by pillars. There is also a significant frescoed vault with eighteenth-century paintings by Trisca depicting the coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity and the Assumption. There are also eight panels where characters from the Old Testament are depicted.
Inside the Mother Church of Capaci there are also other admirable works of art such as the wooden golden statue of St. Erasmus Bishop and Martyr that is the patron saint of the town. It is a work by an unknown artist dating back to the sixteenth century which can be traced back to the style of the Gagini school, which is somewhat sumptuous since it is two meters high.

Also noteworthy is the Statue of the SS. Wooden crucifix dated first half of the seventeenth century and made by friar Innocenzo da Petralia which is positioned in the chapel dedicated to him. The Crucifix has a golden and silver surface and a particular punched decoration where plant motifs emerge.

Also worth seeing are the wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception and that of St. Joseph with Child. Also inside the Mother Church of Capaci there are also paintings such as that of the Martyrdom of St. Erasmo dating back to the XNUMXth century and that of the Madonna del Rosario from the mid-XNUMXth century.

What you can do around the Mother Church of Capaci

After seeing the Mother Church of Capaci, it is suggested to visit it as well Church of San Rocco inside which there are interesting statues such as that of the Madonna of Trapani.
Also worth seeing Palace of the Counts Pilo where is today the town hall is located. The Palazzo was built on the ruins of a sixteenth-century castle.

On the nearby coast is theCapo Gallo Marine Protected Area which covers, over three different zones, an area of ​​about sixteen kilometres. Obviously the main attraction especially in the summer is the Capaci beach characterized by a very fine light sand lapped by a transparent sea.

Enthusiasts of water sports and diving can visit nearby Island of Women so called because of an ancient legend which narrates that 13 Turkish girls, guilty of serious crimes, were embarked on an unmanned ship sent adrift which reached the islet in the bay of Carini where they lived for seven years before being found by their family members.

How is it possible to get to the Mother Church of Capaci

By car:, from Palermo take the A29 Palermo-Trapani-Mazara del Vallo motorway, exit at the Capaci junction.