Chiesa di Sant'Antonio di Padova, Neoclassical church in Castellammare del Golfo, Italy.
The Chiesa di Sant'Antonio di Padova is a church on Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi in Castellammare del Golfo, measuring 31.70 metres long and 17.60 metres wide including the side aisles. Its neoclassical and baroque facade has three doorways aligned with the three naves; the central portal is framed by Corinthian pilasters and a round arch showing Saint Anthony holding the Christ Child, with the Latin inscription DIVO ANTONIO PATAVINO above. The interior follows a basilical plan with a Latin cross and holds an organ from 1902 above the carved wooden entrance vestibule.
A death record of the mother church dated 5 November 1647 gives the first notice of a church dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua. A 1702 visitation by Monsignor Bartolomeo Castelli describes a small church outside the city walls with a single altar to the Immaculate Conception. In 1854 the rector Antonino Romano had it enlarged to three naves, absorbing part of via Sant'Antonino, and in 1864-1865 it was raised to a parish.
Locals call it Sant'Antonino to tell it apart from the church of Sant'Antonio Abate. From the years of parish priest Antonino Romano the Franciscan Third Order was active here, and Francesco Crociata (1837–1902) was one of its most committed supporters. A side chapel near the altar of Saint Anthony is dedicated to Romano, the first parish priest.
The church is located along Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi and is regularly open for religious services. Visitors should keep in mind that the space may be in active use during worship times.
The 1702 visit by Monsignor Bartolomeo Castelli records the church as standing outside the town walls with a single altar to the Immaculate Conception. The building of the church helped root that devotion over the following centuries, and by 1774 three altars stood inside.
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