('Saint James of the Sword') is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, adjoining it there was the ''Hospice of Pilgrims''.

Historical hints

The church rose as a chapel dedicated to the Saint who gave the name to one of the most ancient quarters in Alcamo; it is mentioned in two notarial deeds dating back to 1380Carlo Cataldo, Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo-Calatafimi-Castellammare Golfo p.36, Alcamo, Sarograf, 1982. and in a document of the Episcopal

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

in 1435. The church was built before 1529 and reconstructed in 1571 and in 1596, then widened between the years 1625–36. From the architectonic point of view, it is beautiful: there was an altar with a painting of Saint James and some pilgrims on the way to the Sanctuary of Compostela; on the sides of the altar there were placed two statues of Saint James and

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

. After the 1866 laws on the suppression of religious corporations, the church was confiscated and given to the town

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, which used it as a civic library from 1875 to 1968 . As of June 2018, after the last restoration work, it is the seat of the Ethnographic Museum of Musical Instruments "Gaspare Cannone".

The confraternity

Since 1569 it hosted a Confraternity of Saint James of the Pilgrims, with the scope of assisting pilgrims, and the Confraternity of

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is veneration, venerated by several Christianity, Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Deciu ...

, founded 40 years before, joined it;Carlo Cataldo, La conchiglia di S.Giacomo p.89-90, Alcamo, Campo, 2001. both of them had the running of a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

for pilgrims which had to be founded. The two confraternities had the privilege of , that is any

tax exemption Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

during the period of the feast, so the money saved, together with that one saved in the following years, was to be used for the assistance of pilgrims and the building of a hospice. As the periods were coincident for both congregations, this provoked a quarrel between them and a fusion of the two

institutions Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

in one confraternity, later elevated to a company in 1619. Its brethren had a deep blue sackcloth, with mantles and hats, and they wore a red

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

and a cane on their hands, like pilgrims. After the change to a company occurred in 1619 (as affirms the historian Ignazio de Blasi), they probably wore "a sackcloth and white

visors A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...

, with the emblem of the cross ending like a sword, the characteristic insignia of the glorious Saint James, on the shoulders". Biblioteca Multimediale (Alcamo) 01

In 1642 they were renewed the privilege of and built a hostel for pilgrims next to the church, working from 1649 to 1746, which they had not yet completed in 1649. These hostels were located in the town centres and carried out different activities, assisting poor or sick people, widows, orphans and

foundlings Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...

,Vincenzo Regina, Cavalieri ospedalieri e pellegrini per le antiche vie della provincia di Trapani, 2002 much more when the number of pilgrims on long distances decreased a lot. By 1749 the company no longer ran the hostel and probably it had been dissolved before. The Congregation of Charity, which administered its finances, as they did not host pilgrims going to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

or to the various sanctuaries, assigned those financial returns to the poorhouse () which had to be founded using the patrimony inherited from the De Blasi Mangione.

References

Sources

* Carlo Cataldo: Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo-Calatafimi-Castellammare Golfo p. 36; Sarograf, Alcamo, 1982 * Carlo Cataldo: La conchiglia di S.Giacomo p. 89-90; Campo,Alcamo, 2001 * Regina Vincenzo: Cavalieri ospedalieri e pellegrini per le antiche vie della provincia di Trapani; 2002
Cavalieri ospedalieri e pellegrini per le antiche vie della provincia di Trapani / Vincenzo Regina

External links

{{Portal, Architecture, Catholic Church, Italy * http://www.comune.alcamo.tp.it/in-citta/biblioteche/203-biblioteca-san-giacomo-de-spada.html

* http://www.alqamah.it/2014/01/13/historia-alcami-i-palazzi-storici/ Roman Catholic churches in Alcamo