Spirito Santo, Erice

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Church of Spirito Santo
Chiesa dello Spirito Santo / Chiesa di San Francesco
Church of the San Francesco.jpg
The church
Spirito Santo, Erice
38°2′10.3204″N12°35′19.6656″E / 38.036200111°N 12.588796000°E / 38.036200111; 12.588796000
Location Erice, Sicily, Italy
CountryItaly
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
StatusChurch
Founded1362
Dedication Holy Spirit / Saint Francis of Assisi
Architecture
Architectural typeChurch
Style Gothic

Spirito Santo (Italian: Chiesa dello Spirito Santo, literally "Church of the Holy Spirit"), also known as the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (Chiesa di San Francesco), is a Roman Catholic church in the historic centre of Erice, Sicily. Founded in the 14th century as part of a Franciscan convent, the church remains in religious use, while the adjoining convent buildings now form part of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, housing its Wigner Institute.

Contents

History

The church and adjoining convent of San Francesco were founded following a papal bull issued by Pope Urban V at Avignon on 22 August 1362, and formally presented in Catania in 1364. Count Francesco II Ventimiglia (Franceschello) established the complex on the site of the Palazzo Abbati. [a] The 19th-century local historian Giuseppe Castronovo, drawing on earlier Erice chroniclers such as Cordici and Spalla, records this palace as traditionally considered the birthplace of Saint Albert of Trapani. [1] [2]

The Ventimiglia were among the most powerful baronial houses in 14th-century Sicily, controlling Geraci Siculo and holding nineteen fiefs across the island. [3] The count later served as one of the Four Vicars (a baronial regency) who governed the kingdom of Sicily during the minority of Queen Maria. [4]

The first Mass was celebrated at the church in 1370. The convent saw little expansion until 1598, when the guardian Tommaso Angelo enlarged it and added a cloister. Later works included a grand staircase (late 17th century), new dormitories and a carved walnut choir (18th century), and extensive stucco decoration by Giacomo Giacomazzo of Trapani. [1]

The convent also served civic functions, hosting dignitaries and occasionally troops. Suppressed in 1866, it was later used as the civic hospital San Raffaele Arcangelo. Since the 1970s it has been the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, which established the Eugene P. Wigner Institute on the site. The church itself remains open for worship. [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Here Abbati is a family name (degli Abati), not “abbots”; the palace is traditionally linked to the family of Saint Albert of Trapani (born Alberto degli Abati). Some local sources alternate the spellings Abati/Abbati. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Castronovo, Giuseppe (1872). I conventi di Erice oggi Monte S. Giuliano in Sicilia (in Italian). Palermo: Tip. E. Costa. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "La Chiesa dello Spirito Santo". Erice, la Montagna del Signore (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Norwich, John Julius (2015). Sicily: A Short History, from the Greeks to Cosa Nostra. London: John Murray. p. 149. ISBN   978-1-84854-897-8.
  4. ↑ La Lumia, Isidoro (1867). "I quattro vicari. Studi di storia siciliana del XIV secolo". Archivio Storico Italiano. Serie terza (in Italian). 5 (1 (45)): 3–6. JSTOR   44453169 . Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  5. ↑ Ettore Majorana Foundation, “Location and Structures”, accessed 21 August 2025, Location and Structures
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