Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola - Palermo

The Church of San Francesco di Paola is located in the square of the same name, where since 1310 stood the ancient Church of Santa Oliva , the burial place of the saint. In 1518, the Maestranza dei Sartori ceded the church to the religious Order of the Minims, founded by Saint Francis of Paola.

The Friars Minor demolished the old church , which was too small for their purposes, and started building a beautiful temple flanked by a monastery.

The original design was in the Catalan-Gothic style, of which today only a few structural details remain, such as the groin vaults with rib vaults and a hanging keystone in the central nave. The building underwent a stylistic evolution over the century and its design was adapted to the Mannerist taste that was first in vogue and then to the Baroque splendor, which is reflected in the interior richly decorated with frescoes and stuccowork.

With the enactment of the subversive laws and the resulting suppression of religious orders by the government of the newly established Kingdom of Italy, the great monastery was used as an infantry barracks and today still houses the 'Ruggero Settimo' barracks , the officers' club and other gun associations. This transformation caused the loss of most of the original frescoes, which were peeled or covered up.

In 1905, thanks to the mediation of Archbishop Alessandro Lualdi, the Friars Minor regained control of the church and a small part of the monastery.

The portal consists of pilasters decorated with angel heads and topped by volutes holding a broken arched tympanum. On the intermediate shelf is a half bust depicting the Madonna delle Grazie , flanked by the sculptures of Sant'Oliva and San Francesco di Paola placed on the cymatiums.

The interior has a Latin cross plan and shows a single nave flanked by deep interconnecting chapels, five on each side. The Chapel of San Bartolomeo and the Martyr of San Lorenzo houses the silver simulacrum of the Holy Father , a very rich silver statue that is carried in procession through the city by the members on the occasion of the patronal feast on the second Sunday of May of the Tertiary Brotherhood of Saint Francis.

In the chapel of Sant'Oliva, the access hatch to the Sant'Oliva well is located in the floor, a well in which, according to tradition, the body of Sant'Oliva, stolen by Christians from Palermo in Tunis, was buried in the 5th century. From that spring, it is said, flowed water that was considered miraculous by devotees.

Willem Vandenameele