The church of Santa Maria del Carmelo e Sant'Emidio is the main church of Pennisi, a village of Acireale. It was built at the end of the nineteenth century with the personal contributions of two priest brothers, Salvatore and Mario D'Agata, and opened for worship in 1900; it has been a parish since 1922.
What to see
The façade is in neo-Romanesque style, with round arches and stucco decoration; the portico stands over the entrance door, and the rose window, the porch and the bell tower with twin-arched colonnettes and friezes complete the front. On the forecourt, in 1937, Bishop Salvatore Russo authorised the placing of a statue of Saint Emygdius blessing the faithful.
The interior has a single nave and ends in the apse, which holds frescoes by the Acireale painter Francesco Patanè: on the left the martyrdom of Saint Emygdius, on the right the vision of Elijah on Mount Carmel and on the choir vault the coronation of the Virgin. The four side altars have a Flight into Egypt, a Crucifix, a Saint Anthony Abbot and a Sacred Heart; the canvas on the high altar is the Madonna of Mount Carmel. The three canvases are copies of important works, painted in 1904 by Rosario Scavo of Aci Sant'Antonio. Latin inscriptions from Proverbs and Isaiah run along the cornice.
Visiting
The earthquake of 26 December 2018 damaged the church, bringing down the bell tower and the statue of Saint Emygdius: before going, check with the parish on the state of the works and the opening times.
Our editors' tip
Over the baptismal font hangs a contemporary canvas by Salvatore Montanucci of the baptism of Christ, alongside the nineteenth- and twentieth-century works in the rest of the church.
