Church of Sant'Elia in Alcara Li Fusi
The Church of Sant'Elia di Alcara li Fusi, was built before 1574 on the ruins of a Pagan Temple dedicated to the Goddess Fortuna. Attached to it was the Capuchin Convent, which was lost after a fire in 1956.
The religious building is characterized externally by the simple facade enriched by a portal in local limestone.
The interior, recently restored, it houses paintings and wooden carving works of considerable value: the splendid wooden structure of the main altar that frames the altarpiece depicting the Madonna with Saints Francesco, Nicolò Politi and Elia, the work of Frate Umile da Messina in 1656; the canvas of San Vito, the Sant'Anna of 1599 in the Messina area of Raphaelesque style; and the Immaculate Conception, the first documented work by Giuseppe Tomasi da Tortorici.
The church each year hosts the sacred remains of San Nicolò Politi: at dawn on August 18th they are carried from here in procession to the Hermitage, the place where they were found.
