The Chiesa of Santissima Trinità e San Marziano (Church of the Holiest Trinity and St Marziano) 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 ...

church located on via San Francesco d'Assisi, 3, just south of the town centre of

Lentini Lentini ( scn, Lintini, historically Liuntini; la, Leontīnī; grc, Λεοντῖνοι) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, South East of Sicily (Southern Italy). History The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 72 ...

, province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.

History and description

The present church was built after 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. ...

inserted into the ruins of the 16th-century palace of ''La Palumba'', which then became a Clarissan order monastery. The design is attributed to Vincenzo Vella. The facade interrupts the palace front and is topped by a sail-like bell tower. The portal is accessed through a brief double staircase. The second story has a row of windows with metal grills used by the cloistered nuns to look out on the piazza in front of the church. The interior has a ceiling fresco depicting the ''Glory of the Tinity with St Marziano, Clare, Benedict, and Francis'' by Sebastiano Lo Monaco; one of the altarpieces was painted by

Giuseppe Velasco Giuseppe Velasquez, Velasques or Velasco (16 December 1750 – 7 February 1827) was an Italian painter, active in a Neoclassic style. Biography He was born at Palermo into Spanish family; his father was Fabiano Ungo de Velasco. At the age of ...

. The main altar utilizes polychrome precious stone, including

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...

. The church is paved with majolica tiles with floral designs from

Caltagirone Caltagirone (; scn, Caltaggiruni ; Latin: ''Calata Hieronis'') is an inland city and ''comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administ ...

. The church also houses a polyptych from the 16th-century attributed to Giovanni Antonio Gangi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinita Marciano Lentini 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy