Cathedral of Enna
The Cathedral of Enna , dedicated to Maria Santissima della Visitazione, is located in the historic center of the city, overlooking the small Piazza Duomo, surrounded by the rectory and other eighteenth-century architectures and overlooking Piazza Mazzini, of which it occupies entirely the north side. The Cathedral is one of the major examples of medieval ecclesiastical architecture in Sicily.
It was built in the fourteenth century and deeply renovated about two centuries later.
A long staircase leads to the majestic bell façade which has a portico with three portals, surrounded by 6 columns, and two high levels of quadrangular shape, dating back to the end of the seventeenth century, embellished with cornices and reliefs and two round windows full of friezes, decorations, human faces, pilasters and columns in Doric and Corinthian order. The bell has an impressive size in proportion to the size of the city, it is called "of the 101 quintals", and is as large as that of the cathedral of Catania. Noteworthy is the Porta del Giubileo , now walled up, on the right side, which represents an excellent example of Sicilian Gothic, with 6 columns with decorated capitals and an arch surmounted by the statue of the Madonna and Child Jesus framed by a round arch and zigzag friezes alternating with leaf motifs. The other side door, the Porta Sottana , dating back to 1447, has two pairs of Corinthian columns surmounted by a crowning tympanum and a late Renaissance marble bas-relief depicting Saint Martin sharing his cloak with the poor .
The interior is a Latin cross with three naves divided by columns of black alabaster with richly decorated bases and capitals. The second on the right and the second on the left, in particular, are authentic masterpieces by Gian Domenico Gagini. The ceiling of the church is made up of three different types of chest of drawers carved in walnut. The three chapels that open into the transept deserve attention: the one on the left, dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament of fourteenth-century conception; the chapel on the right houses the statue of the Patron Saint, the Madonna della Visitazione; and the central chapel, from the 16th century, is dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption, richly decorated in every part with stuccos, statues and paintings illustrating various moments in the life of the Madonna.
The Treasury of the Cathedral is kept inside the Alessi Museum .
