The church of San Nicola stands on piazza Ciaia, in the centre of Fasano, but when it was built it lay outside the town walls. It was commissioned in 1596 by the nobleman Donato Antonio Paternò, who in his will asked for it to be dedicated to the saint of Myra and left seven hundred ducats for the work. In 1887 the church passed to Prince Vincenzo Telesio, who restored it and dedicated it to Our Lady of the Rosary in thanksgiving for his wife's recovery.
What to see
The church was later entrusted to the confraternity of Maria Santissima del Rosario, which still looks after it together with the church of the Rosary. Inside are a stone high relief of Saint Nicholas, a nineteenth-century organ and several papier-mâché statues made in Lecce: Saint Dominic, the Risen Christ, Saint Catherine and the doctor saints Cosmas and Damian.
Every year the confraternity holds here the feast of the Santi Medici, widely followed across the area, with a pilgrimage on foot to the sanctuary at Alberobello.
Visiting
The church is in the care of the confraternity: openings and times should be checked on the spot.
Our editors' tip
During the four days of the patronal feast, dedicated to the Madonna del Pozzo and Saint John the Baptist, the church houses the images of the saints: the celebrations open and close right here, with the transfer of the images and the handing over of the keys of the town.
