Church of St. Nicholas of Bari in Naro
philippe.hemmel - CC2.0
The Church of San Nicolò di Bari in Naro is an ancient and valuable place of worship in the village.
It was built in 1618, at the behest of the benefactor Vincenzo Lucchesi and initially dedicated to San Giuseppe, while the adjoining convent was called the Collegio degli orfani. According to tradition, the church was built on the remains of the ancient parish church of San Nicolò di Bari, Bishop of Mira. It is believed that the parish church was the first church built in Naro at the end of the 4th century, precisely in the year 393, with the papal bull of Siricius. In 1785 the church was elevated to a Parish and was dedicated to San Nicolò di Bari, Bishop of Mira.
The façade, made of yellow tuff, features Spanish-style Mannerist elements typical of early Baroque architecture in Sicily. It is marked by a crossed rhythm of frames and pilasters: it is divided into two orders and, vertically, divided into three parts. On the first order, in the central part, there is a finely decorated portal surmounted by an open pediment. On the portal is the noble coat of arms of the Lucchesi Palli family, a family descending from Adinolfo Palli, son of a sister of Desiderio, king of the Lombards and of Andrea Palli, descendant of Adinolfo, who added the name Lucchese to the family, in memory of his homeland Lucca. On the second order, in line with the portal, there is a large rectangular window. The façade is flanked by the bell tower which, until 1821, housed a bell from the ancient Greek parish church.
The interior, with a single nave, is decorated with stuccoes made in the 18th century.
Among the works kept inside the church, of particular value are: the canvas of the Holy Family, attributed to the school of Pietro d'Asaro; the canvas of the Madonna Addolorata consoled by Jesus, a work by Francesco Guadagnino; the canvas of the Deposition, decorated with seven small canvases, attributed to Provenzani; a late 16th-century panel of the Veronica; a very valuable baptismal font dated 1490, with the coat of arms of the House of Aragon, similar to that of the Church of Santa Caterina; an 18th-century wooden Crucifix kept in the sacristy.
