Palazzo Sales - Erice

The Monastery of Santa Teresa was founded in Erice in 1671 by the wealthy brothers Tommaso and Maria Badalucco, descendants of the Erice patrician Giuseppe Badalucco who in his will had arranged that, in the absence of direct heirs, his assets should be spent on the foundation of a Carmelite monastery . Because the two brothers were the last representatives of the family, they had their palace adapted to its new purpose.

In 1701, the first group of nuns, the Discalced Carmelites of St. Teresa of Avila, entered the monastery.

After the dissolution of the religious orders in 1866, the monastery remained closed and abandoned for years and the church was often at the mercy of thieves, attracted by the valuable works of art and the majolica floor.

Erice's archpriest Andrea Messina founded the Sales boarding school . Messina managed to restore and make functional the former Carmelite Monastery of Santa Teresa, which began to actively function from 1925. The sober headquarters, called Palazzo Sales , was completely renovated in the 1980s and is today a valuable location for conferences , demonstrations and events of great cultural importance.

Willem Vandenameele