Church of Santa Maria La Cava in Aidone
The Church of Santa Maria La Cava or Lo Plano in Aidone, erected as a sanctuary dedicated to Saint Philip the Apostle, is a place of worship with very ancient origins.
It was built in the 12th century by order of Adelasia, granddaughter of Count Ruggero. Of the medieval structure, only the apse and the Torre Adelasia, used as a bell tower, remain.
The current façade, which remained incomplete, is the result of a renovation carried out in the late 18th century. This project involved creating a building with three naves and was definitively abandoned in the last restoration completed in 1940 in which the high internal staircase was eliminated, the central portal was raised, a high semi-decagonal churchyard was added, two side chapels and accessory rooms were created.
The façade, in terracotta, is punctuated by pairs of pilasters and sandstone cornerstones. There are three portals with round arches flanked by columns with Corinthian capitals that support a valuable trabeation with metopes and triglyphs.
The interior, with a single nave, is striking for the contrast between the apse which, to recall the Norman origins of the interior of the apse, was brought back to bare stone, and the hall decorated with frescoes by the painter Clelia Argentati.
The church is also the sanctuary of Saint Philip the Apostle and houses, in a chapel richly decorated with stucco, the simulacrum of the saint, an object of great veneration.
