duomo di Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Basilica di San Sebastiano)

The cult of Saint Sebastian in many places in Sicily dates back to around 1300, when the martyr of Narbonne, originally from Milan and who was considered the protector against epidemics of bubonic plague, encouraged the construction of many churches. The cult took root in the village of "Barsalona" on the west side of the river Longano and fraction of Castroreale around 1500, replacing the then patron St. Nicholas of Bari. St. Sebastian's miraculous survival despite the many perforating arrows was transposed onto a figure who became the holy intercessor against outbreaks of disease. The Black Death (in north Italy, better known as the plague of St. Charles Borromeo) assailed the island in 1347, 1449, 1524, and 1575–1578.

Following the administrative merger of Barcellona and Pozzo di Gotto in 1836, the doubling of the population required a new larger church. The project was accelerated by the disastrous 1908 Messina earthquake that damaged the old church of St. Sebastian, dating from 1606, and made it unusable. The old church would also have blocked the construction of the Via Roma, the natural access to the railway station. Together with the adjacent Chiesa degli Agonizzanti ("Church of the Dying"), the Placido Mandanici Theatre (destroyed by fire in 1967) and the Monte di Pietà, it formed the old city of Barcellona until it was completely demolished during the building of the new church.
After the adoption of the plan on April 1, 1931, construction started on January 25, 1932, and ended on October 30, 1935. The church was inaugurated on March 25, 1936, by the Archbishop of Messina, Monsignor Angelo Paino. The laying out of the square in front ended with the elevation of the church to the status of a minor basilica by Cardinal Angelo Sodano on September 18, 1992.

Façade

The basilica's façade is reminiscent of that of the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. The dome drew inspiration from that of Filippo Juvarra for the Basilica of Superga in Turin. The twin ribs of Juvarra's Turin dome, simplified and lightened, also appear in the dome of the Shrine of Christ the King. Likewise, the dome for the new church of Barcellona was similar to that of the New Cathedral of Brescia in shape, size and style, although the latter lacked the small circular windows round the base. In the Barcellona church, the terraces covering the side aisles are much wider, allowing the construction of two small front entrances.
The façade is a modern representation of the neo-classical style with two…

In the sacristy, located behind the apse and communicating with the ambulatory and transept on both sides, are kept the sarcophagus of the philanthropist Giovanni Spagnolo (1791); a marble statue of the Madonna of the Rest (end of the 16th or early 17th century); ten canvases in a frame with scenes from the life of Saint Sebastian (18th century) and an organ casing with wooden carvings from the early 18th century.

The archpriest is the dean over the priests of the parish, responsible for the proper performance of ecclesiastical duties and the lifestyle of the priests submitted to their observance.

Archpriest Nunziato Bonsignore, 1914 to 1941
Monsignor Domenico D'Arro
Monsignor Salvatore Stracquadaini
Monsignor Francesco Mento (1911–2007), 1958 to 2001
Father Francesco Farsaci, from 2001