CaltanissettaPlaces of interest.
The centre of Caltanissetta consists of Piazza Garibaldi, where the Cathedral stands (16th/17th c.); 19th c. alterations modified the ffaçade, the apses, the transept and the cupola. Latin-cross in plan, the cathedral has a long nave with two side-aisles and a cupola over the intersection of the cross; the nave is decorated with stuccos and the vault was frescoed by Guglielmo Borremans in 1720; the frescoes in the front part have been restored to repair the damage suffered in World War II. There is a fine 17th c. organ in the nave, and a fine altar-piece by Borremans over the high altar represents the Blessed Virgin. The chapels contain some good sculptures: a wooden Blessed Virgin (1760) draped in silver lamina (2nd chapel on right); another polychrome wooden statue by Stefano Li Volsi, representing the Archangel Michael, and two marble statues (the Archangels Gabriel and Raphael, 1753) by Vincenzo Vitaliano, in the chapel to the right of the presbytery . A fine silver monstrance (15th c.) is kept in the Treasury. Also in Piazza Garibaldi, opposite the Cathedral, is the Chiesa di San Sebastiano (16th c.). The ffaçade was redone in the 19th c. This church contains a 17th c. wooden statue of St Sebastian. In the N part of Corso Umberto I stands the Chiesa del Collegio, also called Chiesa di Sant'Agata, built in 1605 in late-Renaissance style. The ffaçade, by Natale Masuccio, is elegantly embellished with frame- works on a light coloured background; the ornately decorated portal has a divided tympanum. Greek-cross in plan, the church has numerous exuberant decorations in variegated marble and frescoes by Luigi Borremans (18th c.) Above the high altar, a painting by Agostino Scilla of The Martyrdom of St Agata (1654) is contained in a splendid frame of black marble with putti by Ignazio Marabitti. The same sculptor did the great marble altarpiece representing St Ignatius Glorified situated in the ornate altar on the left of the transept. Beside the church is the Collegio Gesuitico (Jesuit College), to which the church belonged, now used as a school. Walking down Corso Umberto and turning into Via Matteotti, we come to Palazzo Moncada, built in 1635 by Guglielmo Moncada, Count of Caltanissetta. It is majestic and imposing in appearance, with fine decorated corbels in the balconies of the main floor. Returning to Piazza Garibaldi, we proceed towards the E end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele, where there is the Chiesa di Santa Croce, built in the 17th c. and subsequently altered. From here, by way of Via San Domenico and crossing the San Francesco quarter with its maze of mediaeval lanes, we come to the Chiesa di San Domenico (16th c.) and the adjacent convent of the same name. The convex ffaçade dates from the 18th c. Inside there is a very interesting painting by Guglielmo Borremans of St Vincenzo Ferreri (1922), and one by Filippo Paladino, the Madonna del Rosario, over the high altar. The Madonna del Carmelo (1604), another painting by Paladino which once was in the church, is now housed in the Cathedral. Retracing our steps along Corso Umberto and Viale Regina Margherita, we come to the Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop's Palace), which in the Museum of Sacred Art contains a painting by Gian Battista Corradini (1614) of the Madonna del Rosario and a 16th c. copy of Raphael's Spasimo di Sicilia. At Viale della Regione 73 is the Sebastiano Mottura Mining Technical Institute, which houses a very interesting Mineralogical, Palaeontological and Snlphur-Mine Museum. Other interesting Museums are: the Regional Archaeological Museum, situated in the Civic Museum, Via Colajanni 3, with a fine archaeological collection due for resiting, near the 13th c. Abbey of Santo Spirito. In the same street, in the Chiesa di San Pio X, is the Folklore Museum, where the fifteen vare used in the Easter Thursday procession are kept. Halfway down Via del Redentore, we come to Via San Giovanni Bosco which leads uphill out of the city: after about 2 km we reach Monte San Giuliano (727 m), from where there is a fine panorarnic view of the city. On the opposite side of the city we can find the Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli and a few ruins of the Castello di Pietrarossa. This castle, once one of the most powerful fortified buildings in Sicily, also because of its key strategic position, was built by the Arabs and reconstructed by the Normans; later it was used by Federick II of Aragon. Now only a few ruins remain. Nearby is the 13th c. church; the main portal (14th c.) is in Chiaromontine style, as also the little portal on the left side. Excursions. Leaving the city by State Highway 112 to Enna, we reach the Abbazia di Santo Spirito. This Abbey was built by Count Roger and his wife (1092/98), and considerably altered in the following centuries. The original construction is still visible in the posterior part, which is characterised by three massive semi-cylindrical jutting apses, separated by flat pilaster strips and connected by a series of little arches in the upper part. The entrance on the left has a 13th c. ogival portal; there used to be a figure of Christ Blessing in the lunette, but now it is inside the church, which has a rectangular nave and wooden-beamed ceiling. The frescoes in the walls and apses are probably 15th c. In the bowlshaped vault of the apse is a 17th c. figure of Christ Pantocrator. Continuing along the State Highway to Enna and then a winding uphill road, we reach the archaeological zone of Sabucina, a Hellenized indigenous centre (see Sabucina). Excavations have brought to light a Bronze Age necropolis and a 13th-10th c. BC indigenous village. The village was destroyed, to be later refounded in the 4th c. BC and subsequently abandoned. 4 km outside Caltanissetta, it is very interesting to visit the excavation at Gibil Habil, a Hellenized indigenous centre (possibly the ancient Nissa), with a Hippodameic rectangular lay-out.