Cathedral of Licata
The Cathedral of Licata , also known as church of Santa Maria La Nuova , is the main place of worship of the city.
It was built in the early 16th century on a project di Pietro Palatino, replacing the Romanesque church of Santa Maria di Gesù dating back to the sixth century, considered too small due to the city's demographic growth,
The church has a Renaissance-style basilica structure with naves, with three entrances. The facade of which has imposing pillars that reach the cornice that separates the first from the second order, from which some columns and suggestive details branch off.
The interior has a Latin cross basilica shape, with three naves and three apses and two chapels along the arms of the transept. It has a wooden lacunar ceiling , dating back to 1705, an altar in carved wood, with elevation covered by a broken tympanum supported by a projecting set of twisted columns, built in the first half of the seventeenth century. In the altar there is the crucifix of the Black Christ , "miraculous and struck by the turkish sagitte", dating back to 1469 which, according to popular tradition, was blackened by the fire of the piles that the Turks, during the sack that followed on 11 July 1553, they lit under it to burn it.
Among the many works kept in the church, of considerable value are: the baptismal font in white marble , a gift from Giovanni Caro, lord of Licata and baron of Montechiaro, executed between 1498 and 1499 by Gabriele di Battista da Como, coming from the old church; an artistic reliquary that holds various relics of Saints and rare documents and the silver reliquary containing the relic of the Holy Cross; a large canvas placed in the apse behind the main altar representing the "Holy Nativity of the Virgin and Saints Peter, Paul and Angel", attributed to an anonymous Flemish and dating back to the first half of the 17th century.
