TrapaniAlcamo.
This is the town where Ciullo (or Cielo) d' Alcamo
was bom, the poet to whom one of the first poems
in Sicilian (1231-1250) is attributed: the dialogue
Rosa fresca aulentissima. The oldest settlement
that we have evidence of in the area is an Arab
hamlet called Manzil Alqameh, located on the trade-road
from Palermo to Trapani. Alcamo Castle was built
in 1340 by Raimondo Peralta. Some years later, Guamerio
Ventimiglia seized the site, and enlarged both the
Castle and the Matrice, thus starting the development
of Alcamo, which, owing to its geographic position,
its neamess to Castellammare, its port (formerly
the porto di Alcamo) and the vast cultivations of
wheat in the area, became a wealthy and important
town. Between the 15th and the 17th c. the town
of Alcamo was divided into quarters by buildings
constructed by numerous religious orders, which
extended the town outside the mediaeval walls. After
the unification of Italy the convents were transformed
for civil purposes and the city walls were again
restructured. The ancient town layout was however
unaffected.
Let us now enter the town along Corso 6 Aprile,
which is the main thoroughfare; in the W part is
the Chiesa di San Francesco d' Assisi, founded in
1348; it contains a marble repository, attributed
to Giacomo Gagini, and paintings of St Mark and
Mary Magdalene, attributed to Antonello Gagi- ni.
The church has been restructured several times and
it was again considerably restored after the earthquake
in 1968. Further along the Corso we come to the
l5th c. Chiesa di San Tommaso, characterized by
its square blocks of stone, a refined portal and
concentric ogival arches, and also by a fine single-light
window high up where a crown of little hanging arches
terminates the facade. After passing by Palazzo
de Ballis, a noble 16th c. mansion of which a square
tower and a refined three-light window stilI remain,
we come to the 17th c. Chiesa del Santissimo Salvatore,
also called Badia grande (Great Abbey) because of
the adjoining Benedictine Monastery; it contains
paintings by Pietro Novelli and a statue of St Benedict,
by Antonino Gagini. Nearby, in Piazza della Libertà,
stands the 15th c. Chiesa delIa Annunziata with
a longitudinal plan, and a nave and two aisles.
A few steps away, in Piazza IV Novembre, stands
the Duomo: of 14th c. origin it was restructured
in the 17th and 18th c. ; there is a porta1 dating
from 1499, attributed to Bartolomeo Berrettaro,
and the campanile has been reconstructed; the Latin-cross
interior has a nave and two aisles divided by 14
red marble columns; the decora- tions (frescoes
and paintings) are noteworthy - much of the work
was done by Guglielmo Borremans, with particularly
good results in the nave. In the left aisle is a
panel representing the Transit of the Virgin, attributed
to Vincenzo Gagini. Other works by the Gaginis are
in the right aisle, including St Peter, by Giacomo,
a marble triptych representing the Annunci ation,
the Nativity and the Madonna between Saints Philip
and James, by Antonello, who a1so did the Crucifix
in the second chapel in the right aisle. Opposite
the Duomo is the forrner Chiesa di San Nicolò
di Bari (1558). Piazza Ciullo d' Alcamo is the centre
of the town. Here stands the Chiesa di Sant'Oliva,
built by Biagio Amico in l723. This church, with
a single large nave, also possesses some particularly
interesting works by the Gaginis, including a fine
statue of St Oliva, by Antonello (1511); the celebrated
painting by Pietro NovelIi, Liberation of the Souls
from Purgatory, is in the presbytery. In the S part
of the square is the Chiesa del ColIegio Gesuìtico,
built in 1684, with an 18th c. façade, harmoniously
composed of friezes, stuccos and statues. On the
left is the monumental Castle, built by Raimondo
Pera1ta in the 14th c. Despite numerous modifications
and transformations (it was once used as a prison),
the Castle has kept its original rhomboid plan;
at the corners, the key defensive points, thereare
four towers, altemately circular and square.
Home
