The Santuario della Madonna del Carmine also called Basilica di Maria Santissima Annunziata al Carmine, 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 let ...

minor basilica church and Marian sanctuary located on Piazza Carlo Alberto, in the town of Catania,

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

History and Description

Putatively the site has seen multiple temples. The first church built here, titled ''Santa Lucia fuori le mura'', was founded atop or among the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Jove. When this church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1075, a church dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation was built. Sometime in the 13th century, the

Carmelite Fathers , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount C ...

took possession and added a large adjacent convent. The church was damaged severely during 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 ...

and rebuilt in the present form by 1729. This church was elevated to minor basilica in 1988. The adjacent convent has been a barracks since the 19th-century. Legend holds the church was once the first burial place for

Saint Agatha Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Ma ...

, but in addition, the area during the Ancient Roman era served as a necropolis. Inside the adjacent convent are the stone remnants of an Ancient Roman tomb, which some authors had called the ''Tomb of

Stesichorus Stesichorus (; grc-gre, Στησίχορος, ''Stēsichoros''; c. 630 – 555 BC) was a Greek lyric poet native of today's Calabria (Southern Italy). He is best known for telling epic stories in lyric metres, and for some ancient traditions abo ...

.'' The exterior facade is notable for the giant order of columns, with a design attributed to Francesco Battaglia. Behind the niche with the statue of the Virgin of the Carmine at the superior tympanum are a series of 19th-century bells. A market place is held in the piazza outside the church. The interior has a number of large altarpieces, and funereal monuments, and a wooden icon meant to depict St Agatha but modeled after an aristocratic donor to the church, Rosalia Petruso Grimaldi, who was murdered in 1784 by her jealous husband.Visit Catania entry
Among the various altarpieces are:

Right Nave

* Bishop San Spiridione of Trimitonte'' (1946) by Sebastiano Conti Consoli, it is a copy of the prior painting destroyed during the bombings of the second world war. Il dipinto sostituisce analogo soggetto del 1860 distrutto durante i bombardamenti del secondo conflitto mondiale. *''Vision of St Joseph by Santa Teresa di Gesù'' (1782) by Francesco Gramignani Arezzi. *''Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi'' (1818) by Giuseppe Zacco. *'' Madonna of the Carmel'' by Pastura. *''Dream of St Joseph'' (17th-century) anonymous.

Left Nave

*''Sant'Angelo di Gerusalemme'' (1818) by Giuseppe Zacco. *''Saints Agatha and Lucy'' (1791) by Antonio Pennisi *''Prophet Elias'' (1750) by Olivio Sozzi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madonna del Carmine Catania 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Catania