Variety and richness
Variety and richness
Retrace the myths
Places where through the legends they will be discovered by foundation and location. Buildings built for human intention and sanctuaries with a strong symbolic value, in which a relationship between the devotee and the divine arises. Raised among isolated hills or in remote countryside.
Chiesa e museo storico del SS. Crocifisso
The Church of the Crucifix tells a story that began in 1676: Marquise Lucrezia Migliaccio built the church to take over the old chapel that previously held the Crucifix. This fusion, today, is represented by the valuable paintings decorating the vault and the old wooden crucifix, found in 1625, together with a beautifully crafted canvas portraying the Madonna of the Angels. Not forgetting the bell tower: destroyed by lightning and restored thanks to the donations of some families in the village.
San Nicolò Mother Church, Museum and Last Judgement
The Mother Church hosts valuable works of art including the splendid 'Last Judgement' canvas, the largest in Italy. Painted in the 17th century by Giuseppe Salerno, known as 'Lo Zoppo di Gangi', is considered one of his masterpieces for its iconographic and iconological complexity. Giuseppe Salerno worked on the large canvas in 1629, the period of his full artistic maturity. In those years, he was certainly a prominent name in the Madonite territory. Many experts agree that he did not draw inspiration from the single iconographic model of Michelangelo's Judgement: instead, he would have restored to a multiplicity of inspirations, adapting them to his expressive needs. In the basement of the Church of San Nicolò, there is 'A Fossa di Parrini' crypt representing a unicum of inestimable ethnographic value. In this mysterious place, it is possible to admire a hundred perfectly preserved mummified bodies of ecclesiastics. The burial reserved for Gangitan ecclesiastical dignitaries, died between 1728 and 1872, makes the site unique in the entire region, especially for the excellent preservation of the mummies and the sites.
Madre Madonita equestrian sculpture
Located in the stupendous panorama of the Isnello gorge, framed by the Pizzo Dipilo massif and the Grotta Grande mountain, this splendid bronze statue welcomes us. Made by the local artist Pietro Giambelluca and installed in 1987, it is one of the few examples in Europe of an equestrian statue dedicated to a Woman. It symbolizes the cultural identity, roots, tradition and will of its people.
