Santa Venera is a Baroque style church located on Piazza Teatro in the town of

Avola Avola (; scn, Àvula/, becoming / if preceded by vowel; la, Abola) is a city and in the province of Syracuse, Sicily (southern Italy). History The foundation of the city in an area previously inhabited by the Sicani and invaded by the Si ...

, province of Siracusa, region of Sicily, Italy.

History and description

Construction of a church at the site took place from 1713-1715 using designs attributed to

Michelangelo Alessi Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...

. The dome collapsed in the earthquake of 1848, and was not reconstructed until 1962 by the engineer Pietro Lojacono. The decorated three story facade, flanked by volutes and obelisks, houses a statue of Saint Venera, patron of Avola, above the central portal. The interior has three naves. The main altar was completed in 1840 and has an oval canvas depicting ''Santa Venera preaching'' painted by

Costantino Carasi Costantino is both a masculine Italian given name and an Italian surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name *Costantino Affer (1906–1987), Italian medallist *Costantino Barbella (1853–1925), Italian sculptor *Cost ...

. In a chapel at the end of the right aisle is a painted icon of the patron saint (1863) sculpted by Raffaele Abbate, and decorated with a silver and gold dress. The church also houses altarpieces depicting ''Saints Crispino and Crispiniano'' (patron saints of shoemakers), a ''Saint Marta'', and a ''Holy Family with St Vincent Ferrer''. The organ in the church dates to 1901.Comune of Avola
information on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venera San Avola 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Baroque church buildings in Sicily