Sanctuary of San Calogero in Sciacca
The Basilica of San Calogero di Sciacca stands as a Sanctuary dedicated to the hermit monk San Calogero . According to tradition, the Saint, in the Byzantine period, led a hermit's life in a cave on Monte Kronio . After his death, the cave in which the Saint lived was used as a small church and, at the end of the 1400s, the few monks of San Calogero, after various events, set up some rooms for them on the Kronio, a small hospital. The construction of the current Sanctuary, which stands right above the cave of the Saint, is due to Bishop Mariano Manno, who conceived the daring project and started it in 1530.
Inside the Sanctuary there are works of merits such as: a 17th century reliquary crucifix by an unknown artist; the statue of San Calogero, placed on the high altar, sculpted around 1535 by Antonello Gagini and his son Giacomo.
The cave of San Calogero is divided into two rooms: in the first there is a bronze pottery depicting the death of San Calogero surrounded by the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and an Archer with a doe; in the second room there is a hole one and a half meters wide and two meters long, and according to tradition it is the place where the Holy Hermit slept. There is a majolica, placed on a small altar, which depicts San Calogero old and blessing.
