Sanctuary of Gibilmanna
Sanctuary of Gibilmanna , in the territory of Cefalù, rises close to Monte Sant'Angelo at a height of 800 meters above sea level.
The name Gibilmanna derives from the Arabic expression “Gibel el Iman ”, Mount of faith.
According to tradition, the Sanctuary of Gibilmanna was one of the first founded in Sicily by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century, and was later abandoned during the Arab domination. In 1619 the new convent and the church were built, larger than the previous one to house the growing number of faithful and pilgrims who reached that place to venerate the Madonna.
At the center of the Sanctuary is the altar where the statue of the Madonna and Child dating back to 1534 and attributed to Antonello Gagini. Of considerable artistic value is the chapel dedicated to the Madonna where a Baroque altar in mixed marbles stands out, built by Baldassare Pampillonia from Palermo around the seventeenth century, based on a project by Paolo Amato.
In the convent annexed to the Sanctuary of Gibilmanna is home to the Fra Giammaria da Tusa museum.
