Chiesa di Santa Maria la Nova

Southeastern Sicily


Sporting a relatively restrained neoclassical facade, this church took shape in the 18th and 19th centuries. Among its numerous notable artworks is 18th-century altarpiece The Nativity of Mary, recently attributed to Tommaso Pollace. In the right aisle is 17th-century canvas The Martyrdom of St Adrian, considered the work of Antonio Barbalonga Alberti, while in the third chapel on the left is a sculpture of the Madonna of the Snow dating from 1496.

More treasures await in the sacristy, home to Vito D'Anna's 18th-century painting Our Lady of the Assumption and a high relief depicting Mary with the Child between St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist, carved sometime between the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century. Back in the nave, look up to appreciate five 19th-century vault paintings by Don Gaetano Di Stefano, each depicting a scene from Christ's short, eventful life.


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