Church of San Francesco in Tortorici
The Church of San Francesco in Tortorici, also known as the Church of the Convent of the Friars Minor, is an important religious building in the village recognized as a National Monument.
It was built in 1602 following a great flood that hit the Nebroid center and it almost completely destroyed the ancient building. In the construction, recycled material from the already existing Church of Santa Maria Extramoenia was used, as evidenced by the ancient overportal which represents the symbol of the Franciscans, the two clasped hands, and in which we can read the date 1432 and the name of the artist who sculpted it.
The position of the Church is characteristic and is accessed via a staircase, modified to allow the road that connects Tortorici to the nearby villages to pass, which overlooks the main square of the village.
The salient façade it is delimited by stone pilasters. Of particular value is the monumental central portal dating back to the 1400s, even if completed in a later period. The side portals date back to 1686. The side portal overlooking the garden is of great historical value. It is in Norman-Gothic style and was recovered from the previous church destroyed by the flood.
Contiguous to the structure of the church stands the bell tower dating back to the same era as the church and the eighteenth-century mechanical clock. Then there are the remains of the former convent, active until 1866, and the former cloister of which only one column remains on the side wall.
The interior is divided into three naves, by eight smooth monolithic columns with pointed arches. The floor of the altar still retains the bricks of Valencia dating back to 1600, while the rest of the church has the floor in red of San Marco and local stone. The wooden ceiling is entirely decorated by hand by the local painter Giuseppe Tomasi in 1600. In a central position, you can see the figures of Sant'Antonino, San Franceso and the Immaculate Conception.
Among the works kept inside the church, of particular value are: the drawing of the Eternal Father on the head of the main altar; the wooden statue depicting Saint Paul, located in the right side altar, dating back to 1658, sculpted by the local artist Sebastiano Leone and gilded by Giuseppe Di Giovanni; the marble group of San Francesco and Frate Leone, located in the left altar, commissioned in 1535 by Antonello Gagini and executed by his sons in 1559; the seventeenth-century wooden crucifix by Friar Umile of Petralia; the fercolo of San Sebastiano, the patron saint of Tortorici. Behind the fercolo the statue of San Cataldo, the ancient patron saint of the Nebroid town, is visible.
