Santa Maria della Mercede (Palermo)

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Santa Maria della Mercede

The Chiesa Santa Maria della Mercede is a church building in Palermo .

history

On the night of August 1 to August 2, 1218 , the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Petrus Nolascus , who later founded the order of the Mercedarians .

The apparition was the decisive factor in founding a religious order in Barcelona called Santa Maria della Mercede , which was under the patronage of King James I (Aragón) . The aim of this order was to free Christians enslaved by Arabs. In 1230 the order was given by Pope Gregory IX. accepted

In 1463 the Mercedarians settled in Palermo in the monastery of Sant Anna, and finally in 1482 they founded the first monastery of the order on Italian soil elsewhere.

On November 19, 1590, lay people joined forces to form the “Compagnia Santa Maria la Mercè” with the aim of promoting the veneration of Mary .

As a result of this union, processions with a statue of the Madonna still take place on the last Sunday in September in Palermo. This statue of the Virgin Mary was renewed in 1813 by the sculptor Girolamo Bagnasco .

In 1635, the Compagnia acquired a plot of land in the Capo district to build a new monastery and church.

In 1866 the order was expelled from Palermo. It was not until 1882 that the church was reopened for worship. Soon a new brotherhood was founded, which in 1914 was called "Confraternita della Mercede al Capo".

The monastery buildings were demolished for the new construction of the Cassa di Risparmio (today Banco di Sicilia ), only the church building in Via Cappuccinelle and Piazza Capo remained.

description

The only decorative element of the unadorned facade is the lintel with stone garlands, which ends in a niche with the image of the Mother of God.

Typical of a procession church is the high portal, which enables the procession of the statue of the Virgin Mary over two meters high.

The interior of the single-nave church is kept rather simple. Only the pillars, pilasters and a narrow strip on the cornice are set off in red-brown stucco.

The west gallery rests on marble columns and is decorated with putti and ornaments. The neo-baroque choir stalls are from 1910.

The altar is decorated with colored marble and lapis lazuli, which comes from the destroyed Chiesa Gran Cancelliere . Several statues flank the presbytery , the processional Madonna is in a niche to the left of the altar.

The altarpiece shows "Anna Selbdritt with Joseph and saints" and comes from an unknown artist.

literature

  • Adriana Chirco: Palermo la città ritrovata, venti itinerari entro le mura . Publisher Dario Flaccovio, Palermo 1997, ISBN 88-7758-469-6 .
  • Pierfrancesco Palazzotto: Palermo. Guida agli oratori, Confraternite, compagnie e congregazioni dal XVI al XIX secolo . Kalós, Palermo 2004, ISBN 88-89224-07-X .

Web links

Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 2.3 ″  N , 13 ° 21 ′ 15.7 ″  E