The Jesuit college, with the adjoining church of Sant'Ignazio, is a large complex on piazza Plebiscito, in the old town of Mazara del Vallo. The college was built by the Jesuits between 1672 and 1675, to a design by the architect Giacomo Napoli, and was a centre of learning with faculties of Philosophy and Theology. The Jesuits left the town in 1770 and their property passed to the diocese, and after Italian unification to the State.
What to see
The college's imposing façade has two storeys and opens with a large Baroque portal with telamons, attributed to Angelo Italia; the cloister is surrounded by 24 Doric columns. The church of Sant'Ignazio was built in 1701, perhaps to a design by Angelo Italia, although recent studies suggest attributing it to Andrea Pozzo: it had an elliptical plan with eight pairs of columns. After the dome collapsed in 1936, only the façade and the lower part of the interior remain.
Over time the college has housed the classical high school, the civic museum and a cultural centre; restored in the two thousands, it has become an exhibition space and library. Two rooms are devoted to the sculptures and graphic works of the Mazara artist Pietro Consagra.
Visiting
The complex is on piazza Plebiscito. Opening hours of the exhibition rooms should be checked with the town council.
Our editors' tip
The frescoes removed from the collapsed dome of Sant'Ignazio were not lost: today they are kept in the Diocesan Museum of Mazara del Vallo.
