Chiesa Maria SS Delle Grazie

Small and pretty

Very felt like a place

The Church of the Madonna delle Grazie is located in Contrada Bragone Basso in the municipality of Termini Imerese. On the façade we see the emblems of the city of Termini Imerese, inside a large altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary of graces with the Protecting Saints of Termini Imerese, San Calogero and the Blessed Agostino Novello on either side

The beginnings of the church of the Madonna delle Grazie are almost unknown and make the historical location of its arduous construction. The little church stands between the neighboring municipalities of Termini Imerese and Trabia, in the strip of land between the San Leonardo river and the Giardinello stream, and has long been disputed between them: the dispute originated in the early 1500s when Blasco Lanza, jurist of the time, it came into possession of the territory through the inheritance of his wife Aloisia, grandson of Leonardo di Bartolomeo. Lanza, a particularly skilled political figure, pleaded the case to the court of Ferdinand the Catholic to allow the territories of Trabia to be elevated to Feudo. Having obtained this permission, Blasco Lanza did not hesitate to include his wife's territories in the fiefdom. The Termitans did not remain indifferent to the gesture of Lanza and sent a representative to the King, to address their official protest and ask for justice. King Ferdinand, under pressure from the Termites, with a provision, dated 1513 in Valladolid, started an investigation on whose conclusions he should have formulated a definitive judgment. Unfortunately, however, these conclusions never reached the hands of the king. When Ferdinand the Catholic died, King Charles V ascended the throne and, as a result of a new complaint from the Termitans, he received the dossier on 22 February 1522 with which he issued a sentence by which Termini Imerese was able to regain his territory. Later, as a constant reminder of the event, the Termite peasants built, on the border with the territory of Trabia, a small church using lime and flat-shaped stones obtained from the adjacent river. It is therefore possible to estimate the date of construction of the first nucleus of the Church of the Madonna delle Grazie by placing it around 1525. Subsequently there is no news on the cult and on the use of the structure until the beginning of 1600: Don Francesco Mugños, beneficiary of the church, obtained Geraci from this Natale, the concession of 20 palms of earth and in exchange granted him a burial place inside the church. On November 28, 1641, Cardinal Doria ordered that the insignia of the king, of his eminence and of the city of Termini Imerese be erected on the door of the church and that the two tombstones were memorized on the walls of the church in memory of the visit.

Single nave church, small but very impressive. The position, at the entrance of the town, favors usability. The two statues dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie and the Madonna del rosario are very beautiful. The stalls from the Serpottian school and the altarpiece by Pietro Novelli are also noteworthy.