Chiesa di Santa Teresa alla Kalsa - Palermo

The church was built between 1688 and 1706 by the nuns of the nearby monastery of Carmelitane Scalze on a site that had served as a cemetery in Muslim times.

The Baroque facade on three levels, which overlooks Piazza Kalsa, is beautiful and moving because of the strict rhythm of the columns and the powerful stone carvings and the alternation of niches with statues of Dominican saints. On the portal is a valuable marble tondo with the image of the Holy Family, a 17th-century work by Cristoforo Milanti.

The interior, with a single nave and deep side chapels, is decorated with elegant stuccowork with gold accents and contains many important works from the 17th and 18th centuries, including: the 'Lord of St. Teresa' by Borremans; the decor of great plastic effect in the Chapel of the Crucifix executed by Ignazio Marabitti; the main altar of mixed marble and semi-precious stones; the statues of Saint Teresa and Saint Anna by Giacomo Serpotta; and, on the walls, four paintings by Antonio Grano depicting the 'Eucharistic Symbols etc.' to suggest.

Above the entrance is the choir supported by eight columns of Billiemi marble. The side altars open into arches on the sides of the church, alternating with baroque choir stalls of carved wood and decorated with stucco. Behind the main altar hangs a large canvas by Gaspare Serenario with the 'Annunciation of the Divine Motherhood of Mary' from 1746.

Willem Vandenameele