Mother Church in Carlentini
The Mother Church in Carlentini, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, Ecclesia Maior S. Mariae, is the main building of worship in the village.
It was built in 1551, at the same time as the foundation of the city, and was completed in 1609. It was destroyed by the terrible earthquake in the Val di Noto in 1693 and rebuilt a few years later. The reconstruction works were slow: the external façade was completed in 1913, the bell tower was completed in 1933.
The façade, in white stone, is divided into two orders by a slightly overhanging stringcourse. Three portals open on the first order: the main portal is flanked by two pairs of columns with Corinthian capitals which support a broken tympanum; the side portals are surmounted by niches containing statues of the Saints. The second order is punctuated by four finely decorated pilasters and is surmounted by a tympanum. Between the two central pilasters there is a window with a round arch surmounted by a rose window; Two niches stand out between the side pilasters, also finely decorated.
In the rear part of the building stands the bell tower, 33 meters high, whose spire is covered with Caltagirone ceramics.
The interior it is divided into three naves supported by columns. The columns of the side naves are in Baroque style, those of the central nave are in neoclassical style. The church is richly decorated with paintings and frescoes. In the large motif of the central nave the Immaculate Conception is depicted, to whom the Church is dedicated, with the SS. Trinity and St. Michael the Archangel.
Of particular value are; the Chapel of Santa Lucia, Patron Saint of the City, where there are precious decorations, a wrought iron gate from 1831, and the coat of arms of Emperor Charles V with the rampant lion emblem of the City of Carlentini originally placed on the facade of the church; the altar of the Blessed Sacrament built in 1804 decorated with precious frescoes.
