Sanctuary of Our Lady of Providence in Montalbano Elicona
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Providence in Montalbano Elicona is one of the most important places of Marian worship in the Nebrodi area.
The church, originally dedicated to San Domenico, was built in 1630 in the place where a small church dedicated to San Leonardo stood, it was enlarged at the behest of Baron Vincenzo Romano and an adjoining convent entrusted to the Carmelite Fathers was built, a structure which has now become the seat of the Municipality.
According to tradition, the Church was dedicated to the Holy Mary of Providence in following miraculous events that occurred in 1600, when the Madonna put an end to a terrible famine. Since then, the Madonna della Provvidenza became the patron saint of Montalbano Elicona.
The church was elevated to a sanctuary in 1983.
The interior, with a Latin cross plan, is divided by monolithic columns into three naves with various chapels lateral.
The interior is enriched with valuable stuccoes, altars and chiseled marble frontals.
Of particular value is the eighteenth-century wooden sculpture of the Madonna della Provvidenza, attributed to the sculptor Alessandro Pantano, located on the main altar. The Madonna is represented with the Child in her arms who holds a globe with his left hand and blesses with his right.
