Hermitage of San Nicolò Politi in Alcara Li Fusi
SP161bis - Alcara Li Fusi (ME)
The Sanctuary of the Hermitage of San Nicolò Politi in Alcara Li Fusi stands at the foot of the Rocca Calanna.
The building was built at the end of the Middle Ages by incorporating the cave where the patron saint of Alcara lived from 1137 until his death on 17 August 1167.
Externally the architecture lets the rocky parts of the cave protrude, and includes an adjoining portico, a living area formerly a monastic seat and a bell body.
Inside there is a large rock protected by a grating that houses the Grotta del Santo where a seventeenth-century statue of him is placed.
Of particular interest is the canvas of the main altar depicting the Removal of the body of San Nicolò, the work of Giuseppe Tomasi da Tortorici of 1649.
