Cathedral of Comiso
The Cathedral of Santa Maria delle Stelle is the Mother Church of the city of Comiso, the main religious structure of the city.
It was built at the end of the 14th century in the vicinity of the remains of an old place of worship dedicated to Santa Maria del Mulino. It was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1693, the local noble families and the inhabitants of Comiso worked quickly to remedy the damage caused by the earthquake. Over the years the Cathedral of Comiso was subjected to various rearrangements and restorations, at the end of the 19th century the neo-gothic style dome was built.
The Cathedral of Comiso has a valuable pyramid-shaped facade in Sicilian Baroque style divided into three levels, surmounted by a bell tower. The three large entrance portals are flanked by columns with Corinthian capitals.
The interior, of considerable size, is divided into three naves and has fifteen altars, a floor of thick concentric mosaics, and numerous works of art.
Of particular value is the original ceiling of the central nave which remained intact after the violent earthquake of 1693. The wooden ceiling, the work of Antonino Alberti, known as the "Barbalonga", was built in the first half of the seventeenth century and represents five scenes from the Old Testament.
Of particular interest is the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, a work in polychrome marble with reliefs and fake architectural structures, and the eighteenth-century organ box, attributed to the Neapolitan priest and builder of organs Donato Del Piano.
There are many works of art kept in the church, most of these dating back to between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among these, noteworthy are: the Nativity of Mary, from 1698, attributed to Carlo Maratta, placed on the high altar; and a wooden statue of Maria Santissima Addolorata which is carried in procession in her honor on the third Sunday of May.
