Sanctuary of Madonna del Ponte in Caltagirone
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ponte in Caltagirone dates back to 1573, and was built a year after the miraculous apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary first to a girl and then to all and only the faithful who were in the grace of God. A local painter immortalized this vision in the canvas now kept in the nearby church of the Madonna del POnte. Inside the Sanctuary there is still the ancient source where the apparition of the Virgin took place and from which it is possible to draw water, the eighteenth-century processional machine, and a painting by Antonino Ragona that depicts the miraculous event and the place where it happened.
The facade of the church is defined by the Doric giant order, which emerges with stone pilasters on the sides of the façade and with the slight projection of the triangular pediment. The access portal is made up of squared stone piers with a triangular pediment above, even the large window follows the same simple design in reduced proportions. Above the pediment there is a bell tower.
The interior with a single nave has four side chapels. On the source where the apparition took place, masonry works regulate the flow of water to direct it towards an architectural setting in marble that celebrates its importance. On the back wall of the apse is placed above a brick elevation, the wooden machine by Bernardino Bongiovanni containing the oil canvas of the apparition by Francesco Vaccaro.
