The church is located near Porta Spada, one of three historic entry gates in the Elymian-Punic Walls of Erice. The churchyard features a small garden enclosed to the south by a wall; it adjoins the boundary wall of the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate.
Its façade is distinguished by a 15th-century yellow tuff portal and, above, a bell cell with twin openings. Built in 1413 by the priest Michele Lombardo and dedicated to Sant’Orsola, it was enlarged in 1450 by a nephew of the founder, who added a second nave dedicated to Santa Maria di Gesù. In 1451, the Confraternity of Sant’Orsola was aggregated to the church under the title of the “Discipline” or of Our Lady of Sorrows.[1][2]
From the 18th century the church has housed groups of the Misteri (Mysteries), sculptural scenes of the Passion of Jesus, which are carried in procession through the main streets of Erice on Good Friday.[2]
Architecture
The church has two aisles which reflect its different phases of construction. The older aisle has ribbed vaults resting on cross-pillars, while the later aisle is covered by a barrel vault without ribs. The two aisles are divided by three round arches supported on cylindrical columns. As observed by historian Caracciolo, these contrasting elements create “unusual, non-disharmonic contaminations” which give the church its original character, a Gothic that “seems to take on human dimensions”.[2]
Architecturally significant is the angular-niche dome above the main chapel of the left aisle. Its marble image of the Madonna and Child, studied by Scuderi, was disfigured in 1956 and is now preserved in the Matrice.[2]
Castronovo, Giuseppe. Erice sacra. Edited by Salvatore Denaro. Trapani: Meeting Point, 2015. Catalog entry
External links
Sant’Orsola on Erice la Montagna del Signore (in Italian)
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