Cathedral of Santa Maria della Neve in Mazzarino
The cathedral of Santa Maria della Neve in Mazzarino, or Madrice or Mother Church, is the largest religious building in the city and a fine example of the late Sicilian Baroque style.
It was built at the end of the 16th century in the place where a small church dedicated to Santa Maria della Neve stood, which collapsed during the earthquake of 1693. The church was built to a design by the architect Angelo Italia at the behest of Prince Carlo Maria Carafa who made a large bequest in his will for the works . The original project included a large single nave but construction and financial difficulties forced a remodeling of the project. The construction was completed only in 1844 after a long period of standstill.
The façade, in late Baroque style, made with blocks of carved local stone, is unfinished. The façade, divided into two orders by a large entablature, is punctuated by pilasters, pilasters and semi-columns of the Tuscan order. On the first level there are four niches which should have housed statues that were never made and five framed panels for inscriptions or bas-reliefs that were never made. The monumental baroque portal opens onto the wide entrance staircase with a round arch surmounted by festoons framing a medallion and anthropomorphic figures. A large window, which should have illuminated the single large nave initially foreseen in the project, surmounts the main portal.
On the second order there are two further niches also without statues and, on the right side, a large bas-relief representing the creation of Adam and Eve, on the left side, however, there should have been a second bas-relief with Cain and Abel which was never made.
The interior is divided into three naves by pillars decorated with fluted pilasters and surmounted by Corinthian style capitals. The vault of the central nave has stuccos with floral motifs and festoons and panels with paintings depicting the preaching of Jesus, the work of the Palermo painter Tasca. In the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes there are valuable stuccoes by Fantauzzi. Of particular value is the main altar with golden and colored crystals.
The church houses works of notable artistic value: the large canvas of the Madonna della Neve placed on the main altar; two nineteenth-century chandeliers in polychrome Murano glass; the choir, a valuable work by Santi Rigano which is made up of 36 scenes from the Old and New Testament, above which eighteen medallions complete the precious stall, reproducing the twelve apostles, the four evangelists, Saint Joseph and the Madonna.
