Monastery of San Benedetto in Militello Val di Catania
The Monastery of San Benedetto and the adjoining church are among the most representative monuments of the city of Militello Val di Catania.
The complex was built between 1616 and 1646 at the behest of Prince Francesco Branciforte and his wife Giovanna d'Austria , and completed by his daughter Margherita, based on a design by Valeriano De Franchis, and is characterized by the Mannerist layout with notable baroque cues in the carving.
The earthquake of 1693 damaged the third order of the church facade which was artfully reconstructed , to house the belfry, designed by the architect Antonino Scirè from Militello; The artistic colonnaded portico of the monks' cloister also suffered serious damage, above which large terraces opened, which was then demolished and no longer rebuilt.
The large and bright church, surmounted in the transept by an original octagonal lantern, presents masterpieces of exceptional workmanship within the single nave, such as: The Last Communion of San Benedetto by Sebastiano Conca; a silver reliquary bust depicting Saint Benedict from the 18th century; the beautiful seventeenth-century statue of the Virgin of the Rosary; the extraordinary monks' choir of 1727, in carved wood, depicting the mysteries of the Holy Rosary and scenes from the life of San Benedetto and San Placido; the high altar of Parian marble with elaborate stone inlays from 1727; the highly decorated chapel of the Holy Child, characterized by a rich stepped ciborium in gilded wood and remarkable frescoes that frame the tomb of the founding prince, inside which his brother Vincenzo and two daughters are also buried.
The libraries kept the Tabulario, in which the bull of erection of the monastery signed by Pope Paul V. was kept.
