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San Placido is a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church and former-
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monastery located on the piazza of the same name in
Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...
,
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, southern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The complex, two blocks east of the
Catania Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Agatha (), usually known as the Catania Cathedral (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It was the seat of the Bishops of Catania until 1859, when the diocese was elevated to an a ...
, spans a polygonal block encompassed by the Via Vittorio Emanuele II (''il corso'') on the north, the via Landolina to the east, the via Museo Biscari on a south diagonal, and to the west the piazza San Placido and Via Porticello. Part of the convent is occupied by the ''Palazzo della Cultura'', used for cultural activities and exhibitions. The ''Monastero di San Placido'' also serves presently as the Archivio di Stato di Catania.


History and description

The church and monastery for nuns, following the Benedictine order, was inaugurated in 1420, putatively atop the ruins of an ancient Roman temple dedicated to
Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...
, and which legend held was also the site of a house in which Saint Agatha was born. The structures were commissioned in the early 15th century, with donations from a Ximene and Paola di Lerida. Documents highlight that the monastery also received gifts from Queen Blanche of Navarre, wife of King
Martin I of Sicily Martin I of Sicily (c. 1374/1376 – 25 July 1409), called the Younger, was King of Sicily from his marriage to Maria, Queen of Sicily, Queen Maria in 1390 until his death in 1409. Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and hi ...
. In 1549, the monastery received substantial endowments from the prominent aristocratic women, Beatrice and Costanza Ventimiglia. The monastery also incorporated the donation of the former Palazzo Platamone on the present Via Vittorio Emanuele. By the year 1600, there were some 12 monasteries for women were inside the city proper, mainly Santa Maria di Porto Salvo, Santa Chiara, Santissima Trinità, Convertite, San Girolamo, Santa Lucia, San Benedetto, Sant'Agata, San Giuliano, Santa Caterina, Santa Maria di Monte Vergine, and San Placido. All of them suffered great losses of persons and material during the 1693 earthquake. This structure was nearly leveled and most of the nuns died. Only three nuns survived the earthquake. They were able to have a new temple begun by 1723. The marble tympanum over the portal to the church had a marble placard stating ''D(ivo) Placido, Sumo patrono sacrae virginis, A.S. MDCCLXIX''. The monastery was able to recover and by the mid-19th century still had substantial incomes from its lands throughout the province, allowing them to purchase altarpieces for the churches such as the depiction of ''St Benedict'' (1858) from Michele de Napoli for 1500 ducats. In 1859, they commissioned a ''Sacrifice of Gideon'' and ''Supper at Emmaus'' from Michele Rapisardi. The church additionally has an altarpiece by Rapisardi depicting an ''Immaculate Conception''. The monastery was suppressed in 1873. The late-
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
church was designed by
Stefano Ittar Stefano Ittar (March 15, 1724 – January 18, 1790) was a Polish-Italian architect. Biography Ittar was born in Owrucz (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Ukraine), where his father, a member of one of Italy's aristocratic f ...
, and resembles the Borrominiesque facade the same architect used for the Collegiata in Catania, with a convex center, and protruding flanks with pilasters. Four statues in niches decorate the center. Balconies with balustrades and iron grills grace the second story. Along the Via V. Emanuele, the convent has a top story three arch portico. The structure was rebuilt using stones from Taormina and Siracusa,.Visit Catania website, entry on San Placido
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Placido 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Catania