Mother Church

The original Mother Church, inaugurated in 1667 and dedicated to the Patron Saint Nicholas of Bari, was consecrated to the worship of Our Lady of the Rosary in 1673. In 1751, due to the need for a bigger church, work began on the construction of the new building, with a Latin cross layout in Rococo style, which was inaugurated in 1760, even though it had yet to be finished. The large church was enriched over time with the statue and wooden altar of Saint Joseph, inlaid with gold. In 1907 the temporary bell tower was demolished and was only rebuilt after the war by Benedetto Trapani and Raimondo Lentini following the design by the architect Francesco Valenti. In 1968, as a result of the strong tremors of the Belìce earthquake, the Mother Church was gravely damaged and stayed closed until 1999, the year in which the restoration work was completed and it could finally be reopened.