Church of San Nicolò in Savoca

Eugenio Nicola Scarcella - CC1.0

 Maps

  Via San Nicolò, 4 - Savoca (ME)

The Church of San Nicolò in Savoca is an important place of worship in the village. It stands in a panoramic position, on the edge of a deep cliff.
The church has become famous throughout the world because some famous scenes from the film The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola.
It was built in the 13th century. Originally it featured frescoes of notable value in Byzantine style. Following an important remodeling which took place in the 17th century, it took on an 18th century architecture.
The church of San Nicolò had great historical-social importance because, since the Middle Ages and up to the 19th century, in the area of ​​the churchyard they the citizens of Savoca belonging to the working classes were found buried: they still exist today, but the ossuary crypts are not visible under the walking surface of the square. pilasters. It is characterized by the presence of a crenellated parapet which gives it the appearance of a fortress. At the center of the facade, on the architrave of the central portal, stands a valuable fifteenth-century marble bust depicting Saint Lucia. To the right of the church stands the bell tower surmounted by a clock.
Next to the church, the remains of the crypt are visible, which collapsed due to a landslide in 1943.
The interior is divided into three naves by granite columns surmounted by capitals, and is enriched with fine marble altars.< br>The church houses works of notable artistic value from the seventeenth-century Church of the Immacolata, oggi centro filarmonico, e dalla quattrocentesca Chiesa di Santa Lucia con annesso convento domenicano crollati a causa di una frana nel 1880:la trecentesca tavolaraffigurante San Michele Arcangelo; la grande tela raffigurante la Madonna del Parto, opera di Gaspare Camarda del 1623, commissionata dalla famiglia Trischitta; a statua lignea di san Vincenzo Ferreri, realizzata dallo scultore gangitano Filippo Quattrocchi nella seconda metà del XVIII secolo; il pregevolissimo simulacro in argento cesellato raffigurante santa Lucia da Siracusa, realizzato nel 1666, su commissione della Confraternita di Santa Lucia; le statue lignee della Madonna del Carmelo, di sant'Antonio Abate e di san Michele Arcangelo, risalenti al XVIII secolo; la statua lignea di Santa Lucia, di recente fattura, eseguita dallo scultore Reginaldo D'Agostino.