Sanctuary Madonna del Carmine
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Carmine in Ispica is one of the most evocative places in the city, a place of peace and deep isolated devotion in the city.
The original complex was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 and was rebuilt, thanks to the funds of the Marquis Andrea Statella, during the eighteenth century.
The church has a simple single-order facade bordered by pilasters, at the top of which there is the bell tower. At the center of the façade there is the portal, decorated with some late Renaissance bas-reliefs, probably recovered from the previous building.
The interior, with a single nave, has eight chapels decorated with twisted columns and stucco.
Among the works kept in the church, of particular interest are: a polygonal wooden pulpit, one of the few elements prior to the earthquake, on which the saints Angelo, Alberto, Elia and Telesforo are depicted; the wooden statue of the Madonna del Carmelo, a work by Bagnasco from 1860, which depicts the Virgin holding the child in her arms and the keys to the city; some 18th century paintings including the "Transit of San Giuseppe", the "Madonna del Carmine between Carmelite Saints", "Mary between Saints Augustine and Anthony", "Mary between Santa Caterina d'Alessandria" and "Sant'Agnese ".
The convent attached to the church has a very simple façade on two levels. The central portal is framed by a smooth ashlar while the single balcony of the facade retains late Baroque decorations in the shelves with the masks that support the balcony. The main portal leads to a porticoed courtyard, which remained incomplete for the upper part, in the center of which there is a well. Various rooms open onto this courtyard, including the large hall of the convent, covered with cross vaults. On the upper floors, there are the monks' cells.
