Sanctuary of SS. Crucifix of the Relief in Caltagirone
The Sanctuary of the Crocifisso del Soccorso of Caltagirone is located in a rural area of the city.
The rural church and the hermitage of the irregular friars were presumably built in the fourteenth century. The 1693 Val di Noto earthquake destroyed both buildings. The church was rebuilt by the peasant Antonio Centorbi after the prodigious discovery, which took place on January 1, 1708, of a panel painted on a stone, in which the crucified Christ and S. Brigida are depicted, among the ruins of the ancient church. of the Madonna del Soccorso which stood on that site before the 1693 earthquake.
The façade is characterized by a portal with an interrupted arched tympanum, surmounted by a further opening corresponding to the interior of the choir. The double pilasters that are placed at the end of the façade continue the roof tympanum with two respective bell towers. The top of the tympanum is surmounted by a wrought iron cross.
The church has a single nave plan with a semicircular apse, an entrance consisting of a pronaos delimited from the rest of the nave by a Serliano arch supported by two stone columns from certainly from previous buildings. On the right side there is a niche, dug in the exact position where the icon that gave rise to the site was found.
