Church of the SS. Salvatore in Gangi
The Church of the SS. Salvatore a Gangi is an ancient building of worship in the village.
It was built in the 17th century on the remains of a building dedicated to San Filippo and was renovated in the following centuries.
The simple gabled façade, which turns east, is enriched by a valuable arched portal, with the date 1849 engraved on the keystone which recalls the last restoration, flanked by a double pair of pilasters which support the architrave and a triangular pediment. It is surmounted by two small lateral rectangular openings and a circular window. On the side facade there is a second artistic portal dating back to the 17th century. To the left of the facade, stands the bell tower surmounted by a conical spire covered with colored tilobate tiles, crowned by an iron cross.
The interior of the church has a single nave with intermediate lateral columns between the altars and the richly decorated main altar. On the apse you can admire the fresco of the Sacrifice of Isaac by Salvatore De Caro from 1816. On the vault, following an earthquake, only traces of the frescoes by the same author remain.
Among the works kept in the church, of notable artistic value are: the canvas The Spasimo of Sicily, a work from 1612 by Giuseppe Salerno, better known as the Zoppo di Gangi; a large wooden Crucifix, a valuable work by the Franciscan Friar Umile from Petralia; a painting with the pious women, by an unknown artist, located behind the main altar; the wooden statue of the Guardian Angel from 1812 and the wooden statue of San Filippo Apostolo from 1813, works by the Gangitano Filippo Quattrocchi; the group of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, a work from 1598 by the sculptor Paolo Pellegrino.
