Oratorio di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria - Palermo

According to popular tradition , Santa Rosalia's childhood home stood here. Commissioned by the Brotherhood of S. Caterina, the building was completed in 1726.

In the entrance hall hangs a painting by Giuseppe Salerno, known as the Zoppo di Gangi , depicting the "Marriage of Saint Catherine".

The opposite facade has a choir with a loggia containing an eighteenth-century painted wooden organ .

The elegant and prestigious decoration makes the interior a striking example of the creativity and mastery of the decorators, who managed to transform a simple wall cupboard into a beautiful treasure chest full of plastic movements: cherubs, friezes and gilded stucco are mixed with reliefs and images all round. The decoration was made by Giacomo Serpotta and then by his son Procopio.

At the entrance, under the graceful three-arched choir, are the statues of "Wisdom" and "Science"; allegories of science on the walls. Episodes from the life of Saint Catherine are told in the rectangular reliefs, under the windows and in the choir. On the altar, the canvas depicting the "Martyrdom of Saint Catherine" from 1609 is the work of Giuseppe Salerno. On the entrance wall is the "Virgin and Child" by the Raphaelite Vincenzo da Pavia. Along the sides, the brothers' wooden seats are painted with stories from the life of Saint Nicholas.

Particularly valuable is the wooden mahogany chair reserved for the superiors of the company against the opposite facade, made of gilded wood inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl.

Since 1946, the oratory has hosted the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Willem Vandenameele