Gibilmanna

It was built from 1619 to 1624, replacing an ancient church of the Benedictine monks. These were set up from the seventh century, the cult of the Madonna. The building now has a porch in the Gothic style with two tall towers is the result of various changes and substitutions that alternated in time. Among the most valuable works contained in the building we see: the fresco of the Madonna and Child (XIII century) by an unknown author in the chapel of the Madonna with the wooden cross of the fourteenth century, the beautiful statue of the Madonna-sized today finally attributed to the artist Antonello Gagini century, the Baroque altar (1785) always in the chapel of the Madonna attributed to Baldassarre Pampilonia on which lies the splendid marble frontal varied.

CATACOMBS

Dedicated to the hermit monk Giuliano De Placia, are located in the basement of the chapel of the Madonna. They are divided into two rooms with 34 niches along the walls which were placed the bodies of priests, lay brothers and benefactors. Today the niches of the splendid reliquaries made welcome by the Capuchin friars, containing relics of martyrs in holiness and religious experiences.

MUSEUM

In places Gibilmanna inside the convent of the Capuchin friars, next to the shrine dedicated to Our Lady is a museum dedicated to Giammaria Tusa, a Capuchin who lived in the sixteenth century. Collects various works from the Franciscan monasteries in Sicily. In this museum are not works of authorship, as the majority of objects stored in it are not signed, but no less worthy of attention. Among the exhibits stand out: a collection of vestments (copes, chasubles, stoles) of the XVII - XVIII century. Among the paintings we see those: Brother Sebastian to Gratteri (founder of the convent), Brother Bonaventure of Troina, Fra Felice da Nicosia. The material most used by the Capuchin friars was wood, the symbol of poverty, and this material consist of two different candlesticks and statues in a state of worship of St. Joseph and Our Lady of 600. In the same context are the catacombs, where nineteenth-century reliquaries are exposed.

LIBRARY

It contains books on theology, history, philosophy, literature, art and science. The most valuable about the precious wedged and sixteenth of the '600 and '700. Dedicated to Fra Gesualdo De Luca from Bronte (1814-1892) scholar, author, among other things, a book on "History of the Shrine and the convent of SS Mary Gibilmanna (1858).