The church of Sant'Antonio di Padova, on via Vittorio Emanuele in the centre of Acireale, is thought to be the oldest church in town, perhaps the only one surviving from the period of Aquilia Nuova. It was born after the plague of 1466, when the inhabitants built it in honour of Saint Sebastian, to whom they credited the end of the epidemic. On 13 July 1652, when Saint Sebastian was proclaimed co-patron and a new, larger basilica was dedicated to him, an agreement between the two confraternities dedicated it to Saint Anthony of Padua.
What to see
The single-nave building is plain except at the centre of the façade, where an elaborate late Gothic composition links the arched portal with its pediment, the window and a large spired gable with a rose window. On the right rises the bell tower in seventeenth-century taste, with a balustrade and faces of putti on the arches of the bell chamber.
The interior, covered by a single barrel vault and closed by a large chapel, is entirely frescoed. The frescoes are by Pietro Paolo Vasta, who in 1755, while painting the vault, was taken ill, fell from the scaffolding and was left paralysed; the work was carried on by his son Alessandro, who also painted the canvases of Saint Anthony of Padua, the Ecce Homo and the Immaculate Conception. The canvases of Saint Cecilia and Saint Christopher are by Michele Vecchio.
Visiting
The church is run by the confraternity of Sant'Antonio. Opening and service times should be checked on site.
Our editors' tip
To understand the story of the two churches, after Sant'Antonio visit the basilica of San Sebastiano, built when the saint left this church: there too the main fresco cycle is by Pietro Paolo Vasta.
