Church of San Domenico in Acireale
The Church of San Domenico in Acireale is an important building of worship in the city and dominates, with its elegant and imposing façade, the square of the same name.
A first building of worship was erected, in this same place, in the first half of 16th century and was dedicated to San Giuseppe, to whom the entire neighborhood was dedicated. At the beginning of the 17th century the sacred building was enlarged at the behest of the brotherhood of the same name. In 1639, in the building adjacent to the church, a Dominican convent was founded with the collaboration of the brotherhood. After a few years, the brotherhood of Saint Joseph, due to conflicts with the Dominican fathers, abandoned the church and built a new place of worship, the church of San Giuseppe, not far away. The terrible earthquake of 1693 caused extensive damage to the building which was rebuilt in 1709.
The building is located in a raised position above the street level and is accessed via a lava stone staircase.
The façade is divided into three orders by string course frames: the first, characterized by the presence of columns with Ionic style capitals, houses the three entrances to the church; the second order, with double pairs of columns with Corinthian capitals, presents a tribune with balustrade and statues. The central sculptural group, depicting the Virgin giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic, is surmounted by a large tympanum of clear classical origin; on the third order are the two bell towers surmounted by small domes, open on four sides and enriched by double pairs of pilasters with Ionic-style capitals.
The interior, divided into three naves, has a high altar of nineteenth-century manufacture, and the side altars, richly decorated, in eighteenth-century style. The church is decorated with frescoes by Alessandro Vasta, son of the better-known Pietro Paolo Vasta: on the left nave the Lamentation at the foot of the Cross is depicted; in the side naves the frescoes of San Raimondo de Penafort crossing the sea on his cloak, Saint Catherine speaking to the doctors and Saint Thomas composing his works inspired by the Madonna
Among the works kept in the church, of particular value are: the canvas of the Madonna of the Rosary with the Dominican Saints, a work by Matteo Ragonisi (1660-1737); the canvas of Pentecost, the work of Giacinto Platania.
