College of Maria in Favara
The Collegio di Maria di Favara is the refurbishment of a stately building which in the sixteenth century belonged to the Marquise Maria De Marinis. Attached to the building is the church of Santa Lucia.
The Marquise Maria De Marinis donated the palace to the community of Favara in 1616 so that a monastery of Dominican nuns could be built. As the works proceeded extremely slowly, the bishop Francesco Ramírez, of the Dominican Order, decided to use the building as a conservatory for women, without sticking to the original destination. Later, in 1734, largely enlarged, although still incomplete, the building was already used as a college of Mary at the behest of the bishop Lorenzo Gioeni.
Many rooms on the ground floor and first floor were built in the years 1795-1796. Inside they are preserved various paintings of the eighteenth century.
The adjoining church dedicated to Santa Lucia, occupies a large part of the De Marinis palace, now completely altered.
The facade is in style neoclassical and has a finely decorated wooden entrance portal bordered by a stone frame in marble. Above it stands a central rectangular window. Three bells placed inside three curved openings close the façade.
Inside, the fresco of the vault representing the Madonna del Rosario with San Domenico Savio and Santa Caterina da Siena, dating back to the church of Eighteenth century.
