San Nicolò e Santissimo Salvatore, Baroque church in Militello in Val di Catania, Italy.
San Nicolò e Santissimo Salvatore is a Baroque church in Militello in Val di Catania featuring ornately decorated interior spaces. The building has a central nave flanked by several chapels, with marble and elaborate stucco adorning the walls and altars throughout.
The first stone was laid on 6 December 1721, 28 years after the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake destroyed the earlier mother church of San Nicolò il Vecchio. Girolamo Palazzotto designed only the first order of the facade, finished in 1750; Francesco Battaglia added the second order and the bell tower with its oriental-style cupola in 1765. The church opened for worship in 1740, and the transept and apse were added at the end of the 19th century.
The church preserves works moved here from the ruined San Nicolò il Vecchio, including a 17th-century marble altar in the Cappella di Santa Rita and the old high altar, reused for the central portal. The chapels changed patrons over time: Sant'Andrea became San Gerardo Maiella, whose life was painted by Giuseppe Barone in 1921.
The facade faces the street with the central portal between the paired columns; the two side doors are known as del sole and della luna. The interior is a Latin cross with three naves on twelve Ionic pillars, so allow time to walk both side naves. After the 1990 Santa Lucia earthquake the church underwent long structural consolidation and restoration works.
The dome, raised in 1904 on a tall drum with windows, was the first reinforced-concrete structure in eastern Sicily and stands 30 metres high. Its model won first prize at the 1900 Paris International Exposition.
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