Basilica di San Leone, building in Assoro, Italy

The Basilica di San Leone is the mother church of Assoro, on Via Crissa. It has a Latin cross plan with three naves separated by twisted columns, a raised transept and three apses. The wooden truss roof bears the inscription "LULEGATU DI RUGGERU DI ROCCA NI ACCAPTAU - VIVAI ANIMA EIUS - MCCCCLXXXX". The facade has a circular window above a rounded window and a gently peaked central portal.

The basilica was built in the 12th century during Norman rule in this region and displays the architectural style typical of that era. Over the centuries it has retained its original form, serving as evidence of medieval history in Sicily.

The basilica is named after Saint Leo, bishop and titular of the church, whose full-round statue stands in one of the aedicula niches of Antonello Gagini's 1515 marble tribune, alongside Saint Leo II, Saint Benedict and Saint Placidus. The Congregation of the Crucifix walks barefoot behind the crucifix image in the Good Friday processions, and the Confraternities of the Addolorata, of Saint Joseph and of the Sacred Heart also meet here.

The church stands at Via Crissa 294 in the centre of Assoro, not on a hill outside town. The interior is a Latin cross with three naves divided by twisted columns, a raised transept and three apses above it; the Gagini tribune fills the apse basin. A paleo-Christian crypt lies below the church.

The wooden roof trusses carry a painted inscription recording that the roof was made under Ruggero di Rocca in 1490, with a prayer for his soul. The date is written in Roman numerals as MCCCCLXXXX. The same roof covers a Latin-cross interior whose raised transept and three apses sit on higher levels.