Church of the Madonna della Provvidenza in Giarre
The Church of the Madonna della Provvidenza in Giarre is the place of worship of the hamlet of Macchia.
The original structure dates back to the beginning of the eighteenth century but, over the centuries, due to repeated seismic events, it has been the subject of numerous renovations.
The façade, in neoclassical style, is divided into two orders by a string course frame. The façade is divided into three parts by pilasters with Corinthian-style capitals, with the central part slightly overhanging the lateral ones. Three portals open on the first order, the central one, the largest, surmounted by the entablature and a tympanum, the lateral ones surmounted by the entablature and a segmental arch. On the second order, closed by two large volutes, there is a large rectangular trabeated window surmounted by a segmental arch and flanked by two pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
The interior, divided into three naves, houses works of particular value : two anonymous paintings depicting the Burial and Deposition of Christ, of very ancient workmanship and vaguely derived from Caravaggio; the canvas depicting the Madonna of the Rosary and the saints Giuseppe, Matteo, Gaetano di Thiene, Francesco and Chiara d'Assisi, attributed to the school of Pietro Paolo Vasta; the canvas depicting San Vito, by Giuseppe Zacco; the canvas depicting the Transit of St. Joseph, the work of the Acese painter Musumeci; the canvas depicting San Vito with angels, a 1924 work by the artist Francesco Mancini; a wooden crucifix dating back to the eighteenth century; there was also a cycle of paintings with Marian subjects attributed to Giuseppe Zacco which were stolen in 1993 and replaced with digital prints on canvas.
