History
In 1486, Dominican friars were established in Erice when they were granted the small church of San Michele, in the parish of San Cataldo. The convent and new church dedicated to Saint Dominic were founded soon afterwards with civic and episcopal support. [1]
The convent grew during the late 16th and 17th centuries, supported by donations from local families and confraternities. In 1587 the Compagnia del Rosario was founded, establishing the Chapel of the Rosary and organising annual processions through the town. [1]
The convent was suppressed in 1658 under Pope Innocent X, but reinstated in 1664 after appeals to the Holy See. The friars expanded the convent with new dormitories, refectory, and cloister, and in 1683 began the construction of a campanile. The convent also became a centre of Dominican teaching, hosting courses in philosophy and theology. [1]
The church itself was enlarged between 1595 and 1621, becoming a three-aisled structure with Doric columns. It was further remodelled in the 18th century with new stucco work, altars, and chapels, including dedications to Saint Peter Martyr, Saint Vincent Ferrer, Saint Eligius, and the Holy Rosary. A major restoration between 1830 and 1837 gave the church its Corinthian interior with three naves and coffered ceiling. [1]
After the suppression of monasteries in 1866, the friars left and the church declined in use. The convent buildings were later adapted for secular functions, and since the 1970s have housed the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, which established there the Blackett Institute. [2]
Architecture
The original church of San Michele was a small, single-naved building. By the early 17th century it had been enlarged into a Doric-style church with three naves and six columns of calcareous stone.
Following the 18th- and 19th-century restorations, the church acquired a Corinthian order interior with stuccoed coffered vaulting and eight side altars. These included:
- the Chapel of Saint Peter Martyr with an early fresco;
- the Chapel of Saint Vincent Ferrer with an 18th-century stucco statue;
- the Chapel of Our Lady of Succour with a marble statue attributed (though disputed) to Antonello Gagini;
- the Chapel of Saint Eligius, richly decorated by the blacksmiths’ confraternity;
- the Chapel of the Rosary, decorated in stucco with the Mysteries of the Rosary (1759).
Other works included a marble statue of the Immaculate Conception (1686), wooden processional statues by Pietro Orlando and Rosario Bagnasco, and paintings by local artist Carmelo Peraino. [1]
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