Description
The Church of the Minoriti, dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, is a large Baroque church on Via Etnea, in Catania, with a white facade of columns on two levels and a tall dome: an easy stop on a stroll along the city's main street.
At the top of the facade stand two statues: on the left Bartolomeo Simorilli, the church's first provost, on the right Saint Francis Caracciolo, damaged by a bomb during World War II.
Inside, next to the entrance steps, are two unusual monumental holy water fonts in marble; in the chapels, the Annunciation by Guglielmo Borremans, a marble Crucifix by Agostino Penna and a 19th-century organ by the Serassi.
The Caracciolini clerics arrived in Catania in 1625. The 1693 earthquake brought everything down, and today's church was rebuilt in the second half of the 18th century to a design by Francesco Battaglia. The convent next door is the seat of the prefecture.
At the top of the facade stand two statues: on the left Bartolomeo Simorilli, the church's first provost, on the right Saint Francis Caracciolo, damaged by a bomb during World War II.
Inside, next to the entrance steps, are two unusual monumental holy water fonts in marble; in the chapels, the Annunciation by Guglielmo Borremans, a marble Crucifix by Agostino Penna and a 19th-century organ by the Serassi.
The Caracciolini clerics arrived in Catania in 1625. The 1693 earthquake brought everything down, and today's church was rebuilt in the second half of the 18th century to a design by Francesco Battaglia. The convent next door is the seat of the prefecture.