Chiesa di San Nicolò La Latina - Sciacca

It is the oldest church in Sciacca and one of the most interesting examples of Sicilian-Byzantine art that, rich in elements of Islamic art, flourished under Norman rule.

Founded between 1100 and 1136 by Countess Juliet, this church reveals the persistence of the features of Arabic architecture. Dedicated to S. Nicolò of Bari , the church was given its current name in 1172, because in that year it came under the control of the Abbey of S. Filippo of Argirò and the Benedictine Monastery of S. Maria la Latina of Gerusalemme.

There was a Benedictine monastery attached to it, of which only a few traces remain today. The church is small in size and extremely simple.

The interior is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a single nave, covered with a wooden ceiling; the bare walls originally had Byzantine-style frescoes, of which only fragments remain today, and have small, flared windows at the top.
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willem vandenameele