chiesa madre di Maria Santissima Assunta

A church at the site was first commissioned in the 11th century by the initial Norman conquerors, specifically Roger II of Sicily, who would have been building the church adjacent to his Norman castle. The site was named Piano della Cuba, perhaps because it already housed a house of worship at this site. The layout of the present church is mainly due to works patronized by Duke Francesco II Moncada between 1572 and 1592. This led to the building of the nave with two aisles and two side chapels. In 1750 a dome was built, tiled on the outer surface with painted bricks.
The façade is framed with dark lava stone pilasters. In the tympanum above the portal is a marble depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin. The side portals have lava stone jambs surmounted by a triangular tympanum in Baroque style. In front of the church are lava stone pillars that were meant to support at tall bell-tower, commissioned in the late 19th century by the provost Salvatore Petronio Russo, and designed by Carlo Sada. This expensive project became mired due to costs and disputes, and after decades of fitful construction only a skeletal bell-tower was present by 1957. In 1997, church and civil authorities agreed to demolish the tower. The base pilasters remain.
The central nave is flanked on each side by eight solid basalt columns. Tradition holds these columns belonged to an Ancient Roman temple in the town. The Chapel of the Holiest Sacrament at the left in the transept has an altarpiece depicting the Last Supper (16th-century), attributed to the Luis de Morales. In the Chapel of the Sacred Heart on the right, there are 19th-century altarpieces, depicting the Repentance of the Magdalene and the Apparition of Jesus to Beata Alacoque by Giuseppe Guzzardi.
In the apse flanking the main altar are…