The church of the Anime Sante is a parish in Alcamo run by the Salesians, with the Don Bosco oratory beside it. The church, planned as early as 1577, was built only at the start of the nineteenth century by the Compagnia del Santo Monte di Pietà, near the plague cemetery in the Sant'Ippolito area, one of Alcamo's oldest hamlets, and was dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. It became an auxiliary parish in 1919 and an independent one in 1942.
What to see
In 1958 the church was entrusted to the Salesians, who demolished it and built the present one, in modern style, to a design by the Catanese architect Giacomo Leone; in 1964 the crypt beneath the building was consecrated. On 5 October 1958 the first Salesian fathers opened their house, and the Don Bosco oratory was set up in the rooms next door.
Inside, on the right wall, are a small statue of Saint Teresa, a copy of Pietro Novelli's canvas of the Souls in Purgatory, whose original is on the high altar of the church of Sant'Oliva, and a statue of Saint John Bosco; on the left a statue of Saint Dominic Savio, a canvas of Saint Joseph with the Child and the Sacred Heart. On the high altar a painting in three panels shows Jesus, with Saint John Bosco behind, Mary and groups of Salesian priests and prelates among angels. There is also a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Visiting
Since 1928 the church has been home to the congregation of the Carmelite third order of Saint Teresa of Jesus, which venerates the statue of the saint. Mass times and oratory activities should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
On 2 July, after a triduum, the procession of the Madonna delle Grazie comes all the way here, to the Salesian oratory, where the celebrations end.
