Mother Church in Piedimonte Etneo
The Mother Church in Piedimonte Etneo, dedicated to Santa Maria del Rosario, is the main place of worship in the city.
It was built between 1711 and 1713 and, over the centuries, has been subject to various renovations .
The façade, in neoclassical style, is divided into two orders by a string course surmounted by a large tympanum: the first order, marked by white stone pilasters, has a main portal flanked by two Ionic style pilasters surmounted by architrave and tympanum, and two side portals, smaller in size, surmounted by oval windows; on the second order, above the tympanum, a central bell tower rises, closed by a lowered arch lunette.
The interior, divided into three naves, has stylized columns with Doric, Ionic and Corinthian capitals, and colored marble altars of Taormina.
Among the works kept in the church, of particular artistic value are: a wooden choir with semicircular lateral benches, placed on the main altar; a pair of marble altars placed in the direction of the side naves decorated with very valuable canvases; the canvas of the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian; the Santa Lucia Altarpiece by Francesco Mancini; the canvases depicting San Francesco and Sant'Antonio, works by Alessandro Abate.
