Church of Anime Sante del Purgatorio in Caccamo
The Church of the Holy Souls of Purgatory was built in the first half of the 18th century by the brotherhood of the same name.
The facade of the church, in Baroque style, has a splendid stone portal with two semi-columns, with Ionic style capitals, surmounted by an architrave with five ecclesiastical skulls.
The church has a single nave and is enriched with valuable paintings, including: "The Adoration of the Shepherds", from 1729 by Giovanni Bonomo , which represents the moment of the Nativity, when the shepherds humbly go to the cave to worship the Messiah; "The Madonna del Carmelo", a canvas by an unknown painter from the second half of the 18th century, which depicts the Madonna del Carmelo delivering the scapular to St. Simon Stock, founder of the order of Discalced Carmelites.
The Church is seat of the Confraternity of the Holy Souls of Purgatory, founded in 1593, which have used the area below the Church as a cemetery chapel reserved only for members. Following the Napoleonic decree, which established public cemeteries, the chapel was no longer used, but still contains perfectly preserved human remains and is accessible to visitors.
