Cappella della Soledad - Palermo

The beautiful chapel was built at the end of the sixteenth century within the church of "San Demetrio dei Canonici Regolari" .

In 1943, during an air raid by the Allied air force, the church was hit by a cluster of bombs, resulting in the almost total collapse of the church . Miraculously , the first chapel of the right wing of the church remained, called the Royal Chapel of Our Lady of Soledad, standing , even though it was significantly damaged. An exacting restoration was completed from 1953 to 1957, returning the historic chapel to its former glory.

The chapel is accessed through a small courtyard-cemetery where we find an elegant marble portal where the royal coat of arms stands out, with an elegantly crafted wrought iron gate that once separated the chapel and the church.

I n a niche, made of refined mixed marble, is the highly venerated sixteenth-century wooden statue of the Madonna della Soledad covered in the characteristic black velvet cloak. According to the testimony of Gaspare Palermo it was brought from Spain,

The floor is completely taken up by tombstones of noble Spanish families.

Willem Vandenameele