Chiesa di Maria Santissima Annuziata (Church of the Holiest Mary of the Annunciation) 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 ...

parish and minor basilica church located in the city of

Comiso Comiso () is a ''comune'' of the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, Southern Italy. As of 2017, its population was 29,857. History In the past Comiso has been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene in Magna Graecia. Under the B ...

, in the

province of Ragusa The province of Ragusa (; ) was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy, located in the southeast of the island. Following the abolition of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free municipal consortium of Ragusa ...

, Italy. The church is dedicated to the

Marian devotion Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...

of the Virgin of the Annunciation.

History

A church at this site, dedicated to San Nicola of Bari, was the original mother church of the town, and dated to prior than the mid-15th century, when the title was switched in 1480 to Santa Maria delle Stelle, because this parish, serving the local Greek population, persisted in using eastern Greek orthodox liturgy. This original church was razed by the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake was a natural disaster that struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, then a territory part of the Crown of Aragon by the Kings of Spain Calabria and Malta, on 11 January at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was ...

. It was rebuilt by 1772 in the same site, but re-dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The design is attributed to Giovanni Battista Cascione Vaccarini, grandson of Giovanni Battista Vaccarini. The elegant

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 ...

white stone facade has a two-story central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

linked with volutes to the aisles, each with doors decorated with bronze bas-reliefs. The superior tympanum has a crown and the monogram of ''Maria Annuziata''. The interior has altarpieces depicting: *''Assumption of Mary'' (1505) (signed “Guidinius Narcusius (xit)”) *''Presentation of Mary at the Temple'' (1545) by A. Lo Blanco *''An Annunciation'' (17th-century) attributed to

Carlo Dolci Carlo (or Carlino) Dolci (25 May 1616 – 17 January 1686) was an Italian Baroque painter, active mainly in Florence, known for highly finished religious pictures, often repeated in many versions. Biography He was born in Florence, on his mother' ...

*''Prayer of St John'' (17th-century) by Mario Minniti *''San Gaetano Thiene'' (17th-century) by Vito D’Anna Additionally, there is a canvas depicting the ''Souls in Purgatory'' (1857) by the Vaccaro brothers. The frescoes of the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

and cupola (1887) were painted by C. La Leta and M. Sparavilla. A 17th-century crucifix is attributed to Frate . A stucco statuary group depicting the ''Mourning at the Deposition'' (1751) was made by S. Alessi. The Baptistery (1913) in white marble and bronze is by

Mario Rutelli Mario Rutelli (Palermo, Sicily, 4 April 1859 – 1941) was an Italian sculptor. Biography From a native British family which long ago moved from France (Roudelle at first) and then to Genoa’s Republic with capt. sir G. Roudello de’ Mari d ...

.Comune of Comiso
entry on church and other monuments.

References

Churches in the province of Ragusa Baroque architecture in Ragusa 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1772 {{Sicily-RC-church-stub