Mother Church of the Assumption of Mary in Favara

The mother church - Madonna Assunta is the main Catholic place of worship in Favara as well as the cathedral of the city. It is located east of Piazza Cavour, the main square of the town, and is located in the Piazza dei Vespri.It was built between 1892 and 1898. Previously, in 1558, there was already another church in the same place called Maior, ie the main one, and in 1598 it was under the title of the Assumption. The church was extensively rebuilt in the course of 1760, and again in 1828 at the behest of Biagio Licata, grandfather of the prince of Baucina, who allocated a large sum to the work. The stuccoes and paintings of the interior, adorned with columns with Ionic capitals, were completed around the middle of 1830. This church was demolished in 1892 when the current one was built, whose works lasted until July 1898. The inauguration took place on 10 October 1897. The direction of the works was entrusted to the architect Carmelo Sciuto Patti from Catania who was unable to complete the works; they were taken over by the engineer Achille Viola da Castronovo, who partially modified the project. The church, which is based on Lombard architecture models of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, on the imposing facade has mosaics that were introduced around the end of the fifties by some Florentine artists. Inside it is divided into three naves of which the side one on the left houses a large and valuable 17th century Crucifix. In this place, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was an oratory, known as the SS. Crucifix that housed the aforementioned Crucifix, coming from the old mother church; the oratory was destroyed in 1892, when the construction of the new madrice began. Also inside the current church there is a painting from the late nineteenth century, depicting the Assumption of the Virgin who gives the keys of the church to two lay people who are probably the two patrons of the work itself, the brothers Giuseppe and Giovanni Giudice. To the right of the main altar, there is another wooden altar, in neoclassical style, the work of the master Michele Lentini which houses the statue of St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of Favara. The marble base is a gift from Baron Antonio Mendola, and was made in 1898 by C. Sorci from Palermo. In the urn below you can see the statue of Santa Filomena also made in 1898. A marble plaque, to the right of this altar, recalls the financial commitment of the Giudice brothers for the construction of the church and the inauguration. The high altar, dating back to the time of the construction of the new church, built by C. Sorci, houses the statue of the Virgin of the Assumption, the work of the artist Coodorer from Ortisei. The altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, donated by Stefano Miccichè, was made in 1902 by the Geraci brothers of Palermo. Noteworthy is the organ built and placed by Pacifico Inzoli da Crema. Interesting is the wooden pulpit, in neo-Gothic style, made in 1901 by the masters Antonio Amico and his son Antonio, based on a design by the Favarese painter Vincenzo Indelicato. In about 1920, the polychrome glass of the large windows was put in place by the master Giacomo Patti, then replaced in the early nineties. The expenses for the construction of the current church were mainly borne by Francesco Piscopo, who on his death made a considerable bequest for this purpose, and by the Giudice brothers and his sister Gesuela, who allocated large sums of money to it. It was at the behest of the latter that the grandiose dome was built, not foreseen in the project by Sciuto Patti.