Church of Carmine in Polizzi Generosa
The Chiesa del Carmine di Polizzi Generosa is one of the main religious buildings of the village, it is the seat of the Deputation of the Crucifix which, since the last twenty years of the 17th century, has been his honor.
It was built in the early 1500s, and belonged, together with the adjacent convent, first to the Dominican order and in 1549 to that of the Carmelites. In 1866, after the suppression of the religious corporations, the Convent was closed and, subsequently, used as a school building.
The facade dates back to 1888 and has a square stone portal closed by a tympanum, while to its right stands a bell tower with round arches and diamond-pointed pinnacles.
The interior, with a single nave, is embellished with gold decorations along the perimeter.
Among the works kept inside, of particular value are: the venerated wooden crucifix from the 17th century attributed to Francesco Gallusca from Palermo; the 1541 canvas of the Madonna del Carmine painted by the Spanish painter Johannes Matta; the wooden choir of the early decades of the eighteenth century, recently restored, which has walnut wood stalls, decorated with phytomorphic motifs and panels with inlays on the backs depicting Christological symbols, Christian mysticism and Carmelite order; the polychrome wooden statue of the Madonna di Carmelo by Filippo Quattrocchi dating back to the second half of the 18th century; the majolica tiles, made in Collesano at the beginning of the 18th century, which are unfortunately preserved only in the choir and behind the main altar.
