The church of the Madonna dell'Itria is in the old Itria-Falconieri quarter of Paternò. It was built around the sixteenth century and fitted out in 1642; at first it was dedicated to Saint Barbara, the town's patron, and was the seat of the knights of the Teutonic Order. The saint's cult was held here before the town bought, in 1583, the oratory where the church of Santa Barbara now stands.
What to see
The plain façade, in rendered lava stone, is opened in the centre by a large lava stone portal, made tall enough to let through the great float of Saint Barbara on 4 December: the procession still makes an important stop in this church. The interior is rectangular with a barrel vault. The large high altar has a small temple on columns holding the statue of the Madonna dell'Itria seated on a chest carried by two Basilian monks. The two side altars hold two canvases of Saint Barbara, one from the eighteenth century showing her martyrdom and the other a faithful copy of Palma the Elder's Saint Barbara; in the presbytery are two seventeenth-century canvases, a Crucifixion and a Madonna della Mercede, from the ruined church of the Mercede on the hill.
Next to the church, serving as its bell tower, stands the tower of the Falconieri, probably medieval: it is in lava stone, square in plan and on two levels, with a fine contrast between lava and carved stone, Ghibelline merlons and arched openings in the upper part, where the bells hang.
Visiting
The church is in the Itria-Falconieri quarter. Opening hours should be checked on site.
Our editors' tip
The tower was probably an outpost for falconry, which gave it its name, and has become the very symbol of the old quarter.
