Enna - Cathedral

(Local Name: Chiesa Madre) Within its single-towered facade three gates open between massive pilasters. This Chiesa Madre, which was built in 1307, was renewed after a fire, the rebuilding lasting right into the 17th century. The transept of the original building has been retained. The exterior of the apses date from the end of the 15th century. The interior has fine wooden ceilings over the nave and transepts, while Pietro Rosso from Bologna added an opulent stucco Crowning of the Virgin Mary to the main apse in about 1595. The capitals and bases of the columns in the three aisles of the interior have richly sculpted decorations, individual ones indicating by their inscriptions that they are the work of Gian Domenico Gagini, executed in 1560. The seats date from the 16th century, the paintings in the presbytery by F. Paladino are likewise 16th century. Over the third altar on the left there is a 15th century crucifix.