The church of San Giovanni Apostolo ed Evangelista is a Catholic place of worship in Gela, in the Macchitella district. It was built in 1969 by Ignazio Gardella with Anna Castelli Ferrieri at the wish of Enrico Mattei, and was inaugurated on 28 March 1976 by the bishop, Monsignor Sebastiano Rosso.
What to see
The line of the church is given by three interlocked circles, as a symbol of the Trinity. Outside are two circular volumes that join in the space leading to the entrance, on the axis of the church and the square in front; the outer forms let the interior be guessed. In the outer hemicycles 17 windows open on each side, starting from the roof and running down about three quarters of the structure, echoing the decorative windows typical of the buildings of the district.
The interior has a circular-trilobed plan, which the source text compares to the shape of a womb, and winds so as to draw the faithful's attention to the liturgical space, where a large wooden cross without a crucifix stands above the gilded tabernacle, surrounded by mosaic tesserae by Giuseppe Fornasier. At the sides of the liturgical space stand monochrome wooden statues, with details in fine gold, of Mary Mother of the Church and of Saint John the Evangelist, by Flavio Pancheri. Along the walls are 14 stations of the Way of the Cross in satin-finish ceramic by Gaetano Angelico; on the inside of the façade, the choir and a painting of the Last Supper by the Gela painter Antonio Occhipinti, which hides the balcony.
Visiting
The church stands in the Macchitella district, where the sources still name it as the only religious building. Opening hours and visiting arrangements do not appear in the sources consulted: check with the parish.
Our editors' tip
The bell tower is above the entrance, near the women's gallery, and has three bells dedicated respectively to Mary, to Saint John the Evangelist and to the ENI employees killed at work.
