Description
The Church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini is a large Baroque building at the Quattro Canti, in the center of Palermo: one side faces Via Vittorio Emanuele and one faces Via Maqueda. Inside, colored marbles, gilded stuccoes and frescoes make it one of the city's most theatrical churches.
The exterior has two faces. On Via Vittorio Emanuele is the Neoclassical portal, with the statue of Saint Joseph and the coat of arms of the Carpenters, a crowned ax. The side on Via Maqueda has very tall pilasters, flying buttresses and the bell tower, which stayed low.
The interior is a Latin cross, with 34 columns, mostly cut from a single block of gray marble from Monte Billiemi, and Corinthian capitals. On the vault, gilded stuccoes by Paolo Corso from designs by Giacomo Amato and frescoes by Filippo Tancredi with the life of Saint Cajetan.
The dome, covered outside with majolica tiles, is adorned with a fresco by Guglielmo Borremans: "The Fall of the Rebel Angels," from 1724. Below, the twelve apostles painted by Antonio Manno in the pendentives.
In the left transept, the Chapel of Saint Cajetan is a Baroque machine of four red marble columns (1668), with Pietro Novelli's canvas of the saint taken up into heaven. In the chapel of Saint Andrew Avellino there is a canvas by Sebastiano Conca.
Don't miss the two holy water stoups held up by angels, at the entrance, by Ignazio Marabitti. And a crypt with a water table that many believe miraculous: today it feeds a small fountain in the right aisle.
The name of a nearby street tells of an accident. During transport from the Monte Billiemi quarries one of the enormous columns broke, and that is why it is called "Via Colonna Rotta" (Broken Column Street).
The Theatine fathers arrived from Naples around 1600. In 1602 they obtained the church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, on condition of building a chapel for the guild. Work on the present church began in 1612 and it was inaugurated in 1632.
In 1943 came the bombs. The central vault was rebuilt with its frescoes with the help of photographs: the work was finished between 1950 and 1954.
The exterior has two faces. On Via Vittorio Emanuele is the Neoclassical portal, with the statue of Saint Joseph and the coat of arms of the Carpenters, a crowned ax. The side on Via Maqueda has very tall pilasters, flying buttresses and the bell tower, which stayed low.
The interior is a Latin cross, with 34 columns, mostly cut from a single block of gray marble from Monte Billiemi, and Corinthian capitals. On the vault, gilded stuccoes by Paolo Corso from designs by Giacomo Amato and frescoes by Filippo Tancredi with the life of Saint Cajetan.
The dome, covered outside with majolica tiles, is adorned with a fresco by Guglielmo Borremans: "The Fall of the Rebel Angels," from 1724. Below, the twelve apostles painted by Antonio Manno in the pendentives.
In the left transept, the Chapel of Saint Cajetan is a Baroque machine of four red marble columns (1668), with Pietro Novelli's canvas of the saint taken up into heaven. In the chapel of Saint Andrew Avellino there is a canvas by Sebastiano Conca.
Don't miss the two holy water stoups held up by angels, at the entrance, by Ignazio Marabitti. And a crypt with a water table that many believe miraculous: today it feeds a small fountain in the right aisle.
The name of a nearby street tells of an accident. During transport from the Monte Billiemi quarries one of the enormous columns broke, and that is why it is called "Via Colonna Rotta" (Broken Column Street).
The Theatine fathers arrived from Naples around 1600. In 1602 they obtained the church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami, on condition of building a chapel for the guild. Work on the present church began in 1612 and it was inaugurated in 1632.
In 1943 came the bombs. The central vault was rebuilt with its frescoes with the help of photographs: the work was finished between 1950 and 1954.