The church of Maria Santissima della Stella (or Maria Ss. della Stella) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish church in the town of

Barrafranca Barrafranca (Latin: Convicinum, Calloniana) is a ''comune'' and city in Sicily, southern Italy in the Province of Enna. A Roman fortification known as Calloniana, in 1529 it was founded by Pietro Barresi, Prince of Pietraperzia, and took the cur ...

, in the province of Enna, region of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy.

History and Description

Prior to 1598, a church at this site was dedicated to St Alexander; but it was modified and rededicated to the Marian devotion of Santa Maria della Stella, in part prompted by the presence of an ancient Byzantine icon of this image of the Virgin Mary. The church was rebuilt and expanded, and the bell-tower with an onion-dome like roof was built in 1600. The single nave was refurbished into a three nave church in 1900, and decorated inside with neoclassical style stuccos by the Signorelli brothers. The interior houses a number of paintings including altarpieces depicting ''Sant'Isidoro Agricola'' (

Isidore the Laborer Isidore the Labourer, also known as Isidore the Farmer ( es, San Isidro Labrador) (c. 1070 – May 15, 1130), was a Spanish farmworker known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers and of Madrid, El ...

) by Pietro d’Asaro and a ''St Alexander'' by

Francesco Vaccaro Francesco Vaccaro may refer to: * Francesco Vaccaro (painter) (c. 1636–1675), Bolognese painter and engraver of the Baroque period * Francesco Vaccaro (footballer) (born 1999), Italian footballer {{hndis, Vaccaro, Francesco ...

. The ceiling has six octagonal frescoes by Paolo Terranova. They depict: *''Jesus in the house of Mary and Martha'' *''Ascension of Christ'' *''Pentecost '' *''Transfiguration of Christ'' *''Santa Maria della Stella'' *''Immaculate Conception'' The venerated icon of the Maria della Stella was stolen in 1977 and was replaced by a painting by Gaetano Vicari.Comune website
entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Stella Barrafranca 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in the province of Enna