Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio in Acireale
The Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio in Acireale is an ancient sacred building, declared a national monument and guardian of the splendid frescoes by the Acireale artist Pietro Paolo Vasta.
The church stands at the end of Via Romeo, one of the most characteristic streets of the city , which through the suggestive Chiazzette path, connected the historic center with the small seaside village of Santa Maria la Scala.
It was built starting from 1634 and opened for worship in December 1638, at the behest of Giuseppe Costarella thanks to the contribution of fishermen, artisans and small traders whose activities were linked to the small port of Santa Maria La Scala.
The façade, in white stone from Syracuse, is oriented to the east, towards the sea, so that fishermen could see it directly from the sea. It is divided into two orders: the first order, marked by pilasters with Doric capitals, opens onto the main portal surmounted by a lunette. It was built at the end of the eighteenth century following an extension of the church which involved the elimination of the external pronaos and the consequent alignment of the central entrance with the external façade; the second order, punctuated by pilasters with Ionic capitals, has a large window with a balustrade surmounted by a curved tympanum. The side portal dates back to 1790. It is a copy of the side portal of the Cathedral which opens onto Piazza Duomo: it is flanked by pairs of Corinthian columns surmounted by a triangular tympanum and is surmounted by a bell tower. A peculiar characteristic of this portal, which makes it very interesting from a historical-geological point of view, is that its columns were built using a precious white sandstone in which there are small fossil shells.< br>The interior, with a single nave, is valuablely decorated with frescoes by Pietro Paolo Vasta in 1751. The cycle of frescoes, of Baroque conception, is inspired by the expectation of salvation of the souls in Purgatory: the great and complex Eucharistic Mystery is depicted in the vault; on the side walls there are biblical episodes, in the vault of the apse Jesus Christ pouring the blood of the Redemption from his side, and biblical-allegorical episodes on the walls of the choir.
Of particular value is also the canvas of the Madonna del Suffragio located on the main altar, a work by Pietro Paolo Vasta himself.
