Church of Sant'Antonio Abate in Cammarata
The Church of Sant'Antonio Abate in Cammarata, popularly known as the Church of San Domenico, stands in the place where the ancient church of Sant'Antonio Abate and the annex were once located hospital, later used as a convent of the Dominican Fathers and then as a school building.
The exact date of construction of the complex is not known but it is believed that in the first decades of the 14th century a hospital dedicated to Saint Anthony was built in Cammarata Abate which included, in addition to the accommodation facilities and a fair amount of heritage, also a church. The first documents attesting to its existence date back to 1373. In 1509 the entire hospital complex, including the church, were handed over to Brother Giacomo to found a convent of the Dominican order. In 1540 the friars expanded the convent and decided to build a new, larger church which probably maintained the orientation of the original structure, with a main entrance on the side and a bell tower to the right of the main altar. In 1721, due to the precarious conditions of the structure, it was decided to build a new, larger sacred building with a more solid structure. Two centuries later, on the night of August 17, 1913, a fire caused the roof and the wall of the apse of the church to collapse. The choir, the organ, the pulpit and the high altar were destroyed. The Church was finally rebuilt in the years 1931-1934.
The gabled façade, in stone, has simple lines that recall late Roman mannerism. To the left of the church facade is the currituri, a place of refuge for travellers, with a large door surmounted by the rectory's balcony. Next to the currituri stands the bell tower which reaches the height of the facade (it was lengthened by about ten meters in the 1950s). The belfry, delimited and decorated with frames, has four arches containing four bells.
The interior of the church, with a single nave, is delimited by a semicircular apse.
The church houses valuable works, many of which were saved from the fire of 1913: the statue of San Vincenzo Ferreri, an 18th century work by La Bella; the statue depicting the Madonna Addolorata, a work by Giacomo Li Volsi from the 17th century; the canvas depicting the Madonna of Monserrato, a work by Carlo Lo Presti from the 16th century; an organ with 540 pipes commissioned by Mons. Domenico De Gregorio (died 5-26-2006).
