The sanctuary of the Madonna della Consolazione stands on high ground in Paternò and is a place of pilgrimage. According to tradition, on the last Saturday of May 1580 the Madonna appeared to a young shepherd girl, asking her to build a chapel and promising her blessing on the inhabitants and their land. The church was built in 1585 under the title of the Madonna del Pietoso, and in 1616, when the confraternity of the same name settled there, it took the name of the Madonna della Consolazione.
What to see
On 15 May 1935 a decree of the archbishop of Catania made it a sanctuary. Badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War, the building was entirely rebuilt and completed in 1954 at the expense of Michelangelo Virgillito, a native of Paternò, to a design by the engineer Rosario La Russa. The façade, in red stone and white marble in neo-Romanesque style, has above the door a fresco of the Madonna beside the risen Christ, framed by a crescent-shaped marble surround, and higher up a mosaic. Behind the church rises the bell tower, 45 metres high.
The interior has three naves, with five marble-clad arches on each side and a great arch at the end of the central nave. The apse, lit by the windows of the dome, has three inner arches, with frescoes on a gilded Byzantine-style background by the painter Archimede Cirinnà, showing the Madonna and the consecration of the sanctuary; behind the altar are statues of Christ and the kneeling Madonna. The decoration of the other walls is by Antonio Majocchi.
Visiting
Service and opening times should be checked with the sanctuary.
Our editors' tip
During the feast, the float of the Madonna della Consolazione is carried in procession through the streets of Paternò: ask about the date of the feast.
