Santa Maria dell’Aiuto 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 and located on Via Santa Maria dell’Aiuto #80, where it encounters Via San Giovanni and Via Consolato della Seta, in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

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

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History and description

A church at the site named Santissimi Pietro e Paolo, was renamed Santa Maria dell’Aiuto when a venerated icon of the Virgin was moved inside. Razed by the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7. ...

, it was rebuilt with a facade designed by

Antonino Battaglia Antonino may refer to: * Antonino (name), a given name and a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Antonino, Kansas, an unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas, United States See also * Antoniano (disambiguation) * Anto� ...

and decorated by Michele Orlando. The facade, approached through a wide staircase of about a dozen steps, has a broken pediment with columns with modified ionic capitals superimposed with two equally tall solid stone columns with corinthian capitals. The lateral volutes are framed by two statues depicting Saints Peter and Paul. Flanking the left of the facade is a bell-tower with a clock. The interior houses an elaborate reliquary in the altar of the Crucifix. The venerated icon of the Virgin is housed above the polychrome marble altar. Statues of St Peter and Paul and a depiction of God the father frame the icon. The interior contains a chapel hosting a scale replica of the

Holy House of Loreto The Basilica della Santa Casa ( en, Basilica of the Holy House) is a Marian shrine in Loreto, in the Marches, Italy. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed by some Catholics to have lived. Pio ...

and its marble screen. The second altar on the left contains a Crucifix with a wall of relics. The first altar on the right has a copy of the painting by

Filippo Paladini Filippo Paladino (1544 -1614) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born near Florence in Tuscany and remained there until circa 1586 when he was imprisoned and subsequently exiled to Malta. From there, he moved to Sicily where he was active ...

depicting the ''Martyrdom of Saint Agatha''; the original is housed in the cathedral.Facebook page of the parish of Santa Maria dell’Aiuto

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria dell'Aiuto 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Catania