Page 74 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

72  P ALERMO AREA B Y AREA

q Sant’Orsola
Via Maqueda. Map 1 C4. Tel 091-616
23 21. Open 8:30–11am. Oratory visits
by request only.
Sant’Orsola was built in the
early 17th century by the
Society of St Ursula, known
as “Dei Negri” because of the
dark habits the members
wore during processions. The
late Renaissance façade is
decorated with figures of souls
in Purgatory and angels. Three
skulls lie on the architrave. The
aisle-less interior is an example
The lavishly decorated Baroque interior of the Chiesa del Gesù of a light-filled Baroque church,
with deep semicircular chapels
9 San Giuseppe when the Jesuits were expelled linked by galleries. The vault
dei Teatini in 1860. The interior is entirely over the nave is decorated with
covered with marble inlay – the fresco The Glory of St Ursula
Piazza Pretoria. Map 1 C4. Tel 091-331 walls, columns and floor – in a and two medallions depicting
239. Open mid-Jul–mid-Sep: 7:30– profusion of forms and colours, Faith and Charity. The painting
11am, 6–8pm Mon–Sat, 9am–noon, blending in well with the fine The Martyrdom of St Ursula by
6:15–8pm Sun; mid-Sep–mid-Jul: stuccoes of Giacomo Serpotta Pietro Novelli (see p27) is in the
7:30am–noon, 5:30–8pm Mon–Sat,
8:30am–1pm, 6–8pm Sun. (see p39), the imitation bas-relief second chapel on the right,
columns and the various decor- while frescoes of scenes of
The Theatine congregation ative motifs. The pulpit in the the saint’s life are on the vault.
spared no expense in the middle of the nave was the work Another work by Novelli,
construction of this church of the Genoese School (1646). Madonna with the Salvator
(1612–45). Despite the fact To the right of the church is the Mundi, is in the sacristy. From
that the façade was finished in west ern section of the Casa the sacristy there is access to
1844 in Neo-Classical style, the Professa, with a 1685 portal and the Oratorio di Sant’Orsola,
church exudes a Baroque spirit, an 18th-century cloister affording decorated with 17th-century
beginning with the cupola access to the City Library. paintings and stucco sculpture.
covered with majolica tiles. The
two-aisle nave is flanked by huge
columns, the ceiling is frescoed
and the walls are covered with
polychrome marble decoration.
On either side of the entrance
are two marble stoups held up
by angels. The chapels are richly
decorated with stucco and
frescoes, and the high altar is
made of semi-precious stones.
0 Chiesa del Gesù
and Casa Professa
Piazza Casa Professa. Map 1 C4.
Tel 091-580 655, 338-451 20 11/722 87
75. Open 9:30am–1:30pm, 4–7pm
Mon–Sat; 9am–12:30pm & 5–6:30pm
Sun & hols.
This church perhaps represents
the peak of Baroque art in
Palermo. The late 16th-century
façade was one of the sets for
the film Il Gattopardo (The
Leopard; see p28). Work on the
decoration began in 1597 and
was interrupted permanently The 18th-century cloister of the Casa Professa
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p202 and pp210–11

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