The church of the Most Holy Trinity, or Badia, and the adjacent Dominican cloistered monastery are located in the district of Carminello. They were built following the design of an unknown architect and the will of the Countess Maria Ventimiglia of Collesano, Marquis of Geraci’s sister. It was completed thanks to Susanna Gonzaga in 1531, but the building was modified and enlarged in the XV century. The Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity was famous for the solemnity of its religious functions, that were possible thanks to the significant revenues at its disposal. In this sense, it was flourishing until 1866 when religious orders were suppressed.
The church has a tuff front with a single salient, windows and a stone and iron rose window. The entrance has a big rib vault, which supports a chorus that looks right in front of the altar. The chorus is totally hidden, as well as the windows are, by large wrought iron grilles necessary for cloistered nuns to attend religious services, even when the church was full of other believers.
Other elements that remind us of the life of reclusion are two confessionals recessed in the wall and two confessionals decorated with figures of angels, near the altar, to distribute communion to the nuns. In front of the side entrance, a wooden steep staircase leads to an old organ pipe. It has a Baroque register and it was probably built in 1751 by Baldassare Di Paola and Ignazio Faraci. The organ pipe is of painted wood and it is supported by a balcony that is decorated with carved floral scrolls, roses and other plant fantasies. The organ, thanks to a special water device (called uccelleria), is able to reproduce the sound of birds.
In the back wall of the altar there is the immense marble altarpiece with polychrome bottom. It dominates the whole church. This great work was created by the sculptor Giandomenico Gagini before 1543 and it covers almost the entire surface of the main altar. The altarpiece tells the stories of Christ’s life, from the Annunciation to the Transfiguration, with complex symbolic and theological references.
In the presbytery there is a picture of the Mercy of the XVII century.
On the right side of the main altar there is a painting of the XVIII century that was painted by Raffaele Visalli and represents the Virgin of the Rosary.
It is followed, on the same side, by the altar of St. Joseph with a dedicated painting.
On the left side there is the altar of the Immaculate Conception on which stands the polychrome marble statue of the Immaculate.
The altar of Our Lady of Sorrows shows us a painting of the Deposition from the Cross made by the Romantic painter Andrea D’Antoni in 1852.
Finally, there is the altar of St. Thomas Aquinas with a painting of 1666.
For further information:
Parrocchia Maria SS.Assunta
Tel. and fax: 0921.641031
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