Church Santa Maria del Gesù a Polizzi Generosa
The Church of Santa Maria Gesù Lo Piano stands in a splendid position, in the most panoramic point of Polizzi. The church played a fundamental role for the village of Polizzi also at an administrative-civil level since it was the seat of the city senate, which the village possessed as it was a free city.
The year of construction is not known, but it is certain that it already existed in 1301, under the title of Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso.
The facade, renovated in 1770, has a portal and stone pilasters squared limestone that support a cornice surmounted by the bell gable. The side portal is in Romanesque style and has a round arch with stone cantons, embellished at the top with a bas-relief depicting the Virgin Mary.
The interior of the church has a single nave. Of particular value is the roof of the church consisting of wooden trusses and double-mantled Sicilian roof tiles. The value of the roof are the trusses made of fir of the protected species Abies Nebrodensis, one of the most precious endemisms of the Madonie Park. The trusses are also decorated with geometric designs and paintings of monsters, unfortunately not very visible due to the deterioration of time. The main altar features bas-reliefs in pure gold on a cobalt oven.
Below the church is the crypt used for burial until 1804.
