Chiesa Collegio di Maria - Sambuca di Sicilia

This is the Collegio di Maria , the Monastery of Saint Augustine until the early 17th century.

Founded at the end of the 15th century , closed on September 14, 1665, reopened by the interest of Marquis Don Pietro Beccadelli on November 26, 1741 under the title Collegio di Maria for the education of young girls, it was finally closed in 1968 due to The earthquake.

The College is one of the most important monuments of Sambuca from a historical and artistic-architectural point of view.

Inside is an artistic cloister with monilithic tuff columns supporting the sleeping floor composed of small cells that receive light from the cloister courtyard.

To the right of the monastery, looking from the square, is an ornate church from the end of the 16th century.

The craftsmanship of the marble altar, its almost octagonal outline repeated in the fresco framing of the vault and the side chapels, also confirm the claim that it was defined and completed in the second half of the 18th century, when it was reopened as the Collegio di Maria.

After the restoration, the Collegio di Maria became a home for the elderly.

Willem Vandenameele