Church of Maria SS. of the Rosary in Santa Venerina
The Church of Maria SS. del Rosario in Santa Venerina is the parish church of Cosentini, in the locality of Santa Venerina.
It was built in 1860 at the behest of Dr. Mariano Cosentini and the five Dominican nuns designed by the engineer. Nicola Musmeci. The original structure was of modest proportions, with a single nave and a small lateral bell tower. In 1890 the church was subjected to important renovations and expansions. Following the earthquake of 1914 the church remained unusable. It was rebuilt with anti-seismic criteria and a new façade was designed.
The façade, divided into two orders by a string course, is punctuated horizontally by four pilasters. The central portal, flanked by square columns that support a round arch, is surmounted by a characteristic five-light window with round arches. In the lateral bodies there are two portals, smaller in size, flanked by small pilasters surmounted by round arches and two windows with three lights with round arches. On the second order, with a gabled profile, we find the bell tower with four lights in the same style as the windows below.
The church houses various valuable works: the marble high altar from 1860, the work of the master Carlo Calì; the 19th century wooden statue of the Madonna del Rosario; the paintings displayed in the sacristy depicting the five "Nuns of the House" sisters and two of the Cosentini brothers; the majestic nineteenth-century nativity scene consisting of life-size statues with heads and hands made of wood, wax and papier-mâché, which is displayed on the altar every year during the Christmas period.
In the courtyard in front of the church a cave with a statue was created of the Madonna of Lourdes coming from the French city of the same name and donated by Mrs. Santa Di Bartolo.
