Mazara Valley
Via del Carmine 91026 Mazara del Vallo (Tp), Sicilia Italia
Tel: +39 333 619 2021

Baroque path | Mazara Valley - Official Tourism Website

Mazara del Vallo. Mazara Valley - Official Tourism Website

Home Experiences Baroque path

A tour among the
pearls of Baroque

Visit Mazara del Vallo. A tour of the town alleys.

Mazara's baroque in the alleys
of the city.

Mazara del Vallo extends on an ancient Phoenician site, along the western coasts of Sicily, between Boeo Cape and San Marco Cape and it is 200 kilometers far from the Tunisian coasts. The town was a Greek trading centre, but it gained its magnificence under Arab and Norman domination.

Recommended itinerary

A
Jesuit College

The Jesuit College is located in the southern part of the ancient city. The beginning of the construction work dates back to December 4th, 1675 thanks to a donation by the nobleman Don Gaspare Riera from Mazara. From the outside, the grandeur of the façade is immediately striking, marked by a series of large windows placed at an unusual height. But the beauty of the portal that expresses the seventeenth-century Baroque taste. Inside, you can admire the cloister, characterized by columns that mark rooms covered by cross vaults.

B
The Church of Sant'Ignazio

The church stands in the southern part of the old town, today's Piazza Plebiscito. Work began on 27 September 1701, in the area where the palace of the noble Adamo family once stood. The consecration took place in 1714 by Bishop Bartolomeo Castelli. Of the structure, particularly valuable is the prospectus, composed of two orders (one Doric, the other Ionic), from where plastic and chiaroscuro elements unfold, the portal and the tympanum, enriched by volute buttresses, elements that well express the Baroque spirit.

C
The Church of San Francesco

The church is located near the northwest corner of the old part of town. The baroque structure visible today, is the result of a reconstruction of an older church, also dedicated to the saint of Assisi, dating back to the thirteenth century, which, in turn, was planted on the remains of an ecclesiastical complex dedicated to San Biagio. The present baroque aspect was wanted by Monsignor Francesco Maria Graffeo, regent of the Minor Conventual and future bishop of the diocese of Mazara, around 1680 and, therefore, in the wake of the baroque exuberance.

D
Palace of Marquis Milo

This ancient palace stands in the central-western part of the ancient city, on the corner of Via Porta Palermo and Via Goti. The point where it stands, serves as a crossroads between three ancient quarters: that of San Francesco, that of Giudecca and that of San Giovanni. Built in the 17th century in the area where the great fortress of the Emir Abd Allah Ibn Mankut stood during the Islamic period (whose remains, still visible in the 16th century, were described by the humanist Gian Giacomo Adria from Mazara), has elements of Baroque influence in the elevations.

E
The Church of San Michele

The complex of San Michele was built in the north-eastern area of the ancient city, in the district of Giudecca which hosted an important Jewish community. The first traces of the church date back to the 12th century and its construction is due to the will of Giorgio d'Antiochia. In the course of the following centuries, the important heritage of the monastery (composed, in part, also of several landed estates scattered in the countryside of Mazara), made it possible to start a new building site that brought, both the church and the monastery, to have the present appearance.

F
The Church of Santa Veneranda

The point where the church of Santa Veneranda is located, together with the square that takes its name from it, is located in the center of the ancient city of Mazara. It is not known exactly the period of its foundation, even if the tradition places it in Norman age. It was the seat of a monastery of Benedictine nuns of remarkably humble origins. Its present appearance can be dated back to the late Baroque period, when the monastery was ruled by the abbess Giuseppa Antonia Burgio, and the consecration took place in 1716.

G
The Cathedral and the Republic Square

A place that, over the centuries, has had particular importance, because of the most emblematic buildings that still face here today, it is located in the south-eastern part of the ancient city. The present name of the square dates back to 1946, but in ancient times this space was called Piano Maggiore or Platea Magna. Already during the Islamic domination of Sicily, this area was chosen to host the great Mosque (Muschita Magna) and the Minaret , during the Norman conquest, the Cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Savior.

Texts from the writings of Dr. Francesco Adamo

Most fascinating photos

Mazara Barocca: Foto Gallery

Mazara del Vallo extends on an ancient Phoenician site, along the western coasts of Sicily, between Boeo Cape and San Marco Cape and it is 200 kilometers far from the Tunisian coasts. The town was a Greek trading centre, but it gained its magnificence under Arab and Norman domination.

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( 06 January 2025 )
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