Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia in Palermo
The Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia , which stands 429 meters above sea level on Monte Pellegrino , is an important place of worship but also one of the most evocative monuments of the city of Palermo.
It was founded in 1625, the facade is leaning against the cave where the relics of the Patron Saint were found and is accessed via a long staircase. The sacred cave is preceded by a vestibule with three arches resting on twisted columns in which various tombstones recall the devotion to the saint of the Bourbon and Savoy kings, and the one that recalls the visit of the German scholar Goethe, which took place in 1787. Under a canopy, you find the altar with the simulacrum of the Saint, a marble work by Gregorio Tedeschi of 1625, covered in 1735 with a gold leaf donated by Charles III.
It is said that in the year of the finding of the relics, when the city was afflicted by a terrible plague, the Spirit of Rosalia appeared in these solitary places to a hunter to whom he indicated the place where his bones were located. His relics were collected and carried in procession around the city and chased away the disease. Thus it was that Rosalia was proclaimed protector of liberated Palermo. Every year, from 10 to 15 July, the "feast" is celebrated in memory of that liberation.
