Santuario di San Calogero - Sciacca

In ancient times, a small church stood on the top of Monte Kronio to serve the sick and pilgrims who climbed to the caves to take advantage of the vapors.

There was also a cave that, according to tradition, was used by the hermit Saint Calogero for rest, a place of pilgrimage that could be reached through a hole of one and a half meters wide through which only a man could crawl. The entrance to the cave is now located under the current church.

At the end of the 15th century, some monks of San Calogero, after several setbacks, founded a small hospital in a few rooms on the hill and returned to settle near the saint's cave.

The construction of the current basilica , which was to replace the old church, is thanks to Bishop Mariano Manno, who started it in 1530 and gave new impetus to the cult of San Calogero. The new building was built with contributions from the faithful. Construction was continued by the prior of San Calogero, Don Gregorio Gallitano (1571-1623) and was consecrated in 1644, with Canon Gaspare Blasco as prior.

In 1948, the sanctuary and adjacent buildings were given in perpetual use to the Franciscan Third Regular Order , which took care of the renovation of the rooms of the former hermitage.

The shrine was established as a parish in 1953 and elevated to a basilica in 1979.

On the main altar of the church there is a statue of Saint Calogero, preserved in a wooden box from the 18th century. The statue was ordered in 1535 by chaplain Antonio Bruno from Antonello Gagini of Palermo and was delivered after his death in 1538 by his son, Giacomo Gagini, without the figure of the archer provided for in the contract. The saint is depicted in hermit's clothing, with a Bible and a doe at his side.

Willem Vandenameele