Badia Nuova: Palermo’s Hidden Gem

Behind the Cathedral of Palermo you’ll find the hidden gem, Badia Nuova.

This seventeenth-century Sicily church is a few steps away from the Cathedral of Palermo. At Palermo’s Church of Badia Nuova, you’ll be able to admire the stuccos of the great Giacomo Serpotta and his brother Giuseppe, along with the works of Pietro Novelli, Gioacchino Martorana and Giuseppe Patania.

Palermo’s Church of Badia Nuova was once part of the monastery of S. Maria di Monte Oliveto. During this time, the building was the site of the ancient archbishopric, built by Gualtiero Offamilio, before being abandoned in the fifteenth century. From 1512, the Olivetan nuns restored the complex and, between 1622 and 1624, entrusted the enlargement project to Mariano Smiriglio. Restored in the post-war period, today the building is the seat of the archiepiscopal seminary of Palermo.

The interior of this Sicilian church has a single nave with two altars on each side and a choir at the entrance supported by four columns. Throughout the church’s interior, you’ll find detailed stuccos by Giuseppe and Giacomo Serpotta and frescoes by Filippo Tancredi depicting "The Stories of the Life of the Virgin". On the walls of the vestibule you’ll find four more frescoes in gilded golden frames, with episodes from the life of Santa Rosalia.

The walls of the nave are elegantly decorated with serpentine pilasters and stuccos and in the vault are the frescoes by Pietro Novelli with the "Ascension of Christ" and the "Stories of Saints". The presbytery is introduced by a triumphal arch and closes with a square apse that leads to the sacristy also known as "Chapel of the Spatafora Sisters". This area is frescoed by the talented Filippo Tancredi with two theatres with scenes from the "Nativity" and "Presentation at the Temple", attributed to Procopio Serpotta, on either side.

The next time you’re planning your Sicily package holiday, be sure to explore this stunning church in Palermo.

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