Chiesa dei Tre Re - Palermo

The Church of the Three Kings is a historical artifact that, despite its current state of abandonment and degradation (2023) , represents one of the most interesting and meaningful testimonies of Palermo's Baroque .

It was built in the last decades of the 16th century, then in the area on which the medieval church called " San Giorgio lo Xheri " stood. But already in 1748 the church was almost completely redecorated in Baroque style. The American bombings of 1943 caused very serious damage.

The exterior of the church is characterized by a rich Baroque portal of strong plasticity, flanked by two powerful columns in Billiemi limestone (today in very poor condition). Above this a marble medallion with a baroque design. The facade ends at the top with a triangular tympanum enclosed by two simple pilasters in Doric style.

Inside, In the center of the barrel vault, within a golden stucco frame, is the large fresco by Vito D'Anna depicting the " Triumph of the Three Kings ".

In the past, the church housed another evocative sixteenth-century ' Adoration' work by the Flemish painter Simone de Wobreck, which can today be admired in the Ursino Castle in Catania. After repeated thefts, no traces remain of the original majolica floor .

Like most brotherhood churches, the Church of the Three Kings also has a "carnaria" ( burial crypt ) for the brothers' burial. Unfortunately, even the crypt, which is accessible through a hatch in the floor, is in a very poor state of repair.

Willem Vandenameele