Chiesa della Madonna dei Rimedi - Palermo

The building was completed in 1625 and restored in the first half of the 19th century.

The origins of the church, now a Sanctuary, are very old:

In 1064, the Norman soldiers besieging Palermo camped near the city and were in great trouble as they were attacked by poisonous spiders. This setback forced them to move to a place closer to Palermo, which at that time was under the rule of the Saracens who had ruled there for two centuries. In these difficult circumstances , the Norman princes prayed to the Virgin Mary to help them overcome the difficulties. According to tradition, the Virgin appeared to the Normans and urged them to light a fire to kill the dangerous spiders. The solution proposed by the Blessed Virgin was successful , as was the outcome of the siege. When King Roger II, Count of Sicily, invaded Palermo on 8/1/1072, he remembered the miraculous healing that had taken place through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and wanted to thank him for a small church called 'S. Maria dei Rimedi' building on the same spot where the fires were lit.

In 1610, the small church was donated to the Carmelites, who decided to build a larger church, partly thanks to the intercession of the Spanish Viceroy Vigliena. At the same time as the church, the monastery of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites was built under the title "Santa Maria dei Rimedi", with dormitories and an oratory, one of the first Carmelite institutions in the Palermo area. Today it is one of the most important monasteries of the Discalced Carmelites in Italy , while the oratory is used by the soldiers of the Palermo Military District.

The church, restored in 1844, was closed in 1866 due to the introduction of subversive laws and the suppression of religious orders. The new custom resulted in all rooms being ransacked and altars, furniture and marble decorations dismantled.

The church has one nave with chapels and a deep transept. Good 18th century paintings can be seen on the main altars , in particular: in the small chapel, 'St. Theresa' by Rosalia Novelli, daughter of the famous Pietro Novelli. In the sacristy: a 'St. Bartholomew', a copy by Spagnoletto; in the third chapel on the right 'Our Lady with Jesus, St. Anne and Joachim' by Pietro Novelli; in the first chapel on the left 'Holy Family', also by Novelli.

Willem Vandenameele