chiesa del Carmine

The religious Carmelites arrived from the Holy Land in Messina probably not later than 1238 and settled down by the river San Michele, two miles from the city. There, they built their first convent with its church, which they called "Santa Maria del Carmelo". That place, for the hermit life lived by the brothers, was then commonly called 'Ritiro' ('Withdrawal') name that then took all the area. The pressures of the faithful people that flocked, attracted by the admirable life of those monks, induced the Carmelites to relocate and move almost at the mouth of that river San Michele. However, being the second mansion infested with malaria and too exposed to the depredations of pirates and wars, in 1292 the brothers moved to Via degli Argentieri, between the current Via Garibaldi and Via Cavour. But also in this convent, their presence did not last long because it was too close to the cathedral and those priests considered their masses "disturbed". The brothers then, "pro bono Pacis," moved in April 1304 for the fourth time to a new convent, located in Contrada Pozzo Leone (dedicated to Pope Leo II, born in Messina by tradition) where they occupied the church of St. Cataldo located in the area of the current theatre "Vittorio Emanuele", overlooking Via Cavour. On 5 February 1783, when the church, and all its internal works and tombs, were completely destroyed. The new headquarters, "Carmine Maggiore" stood on the ancient Via Università, including the current Via San Filippo Bianchi and Via della Zecca.

The church of the Carmine, as before, had a unique nave and was lavishly embellished in a Baroque style, with frescoes and oil paintings by Giovanni Tuccari. He had five altars: the main one was dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with a painting on wood always…

The interior, in the shape of a Greek cross with side chapels, is decorated with polychrome marble and pink marble columns topped with carved capitals. The dome of the church, octagonal, has a circular window on each side and is surmounted by a square lantern. The central compartment has an octagonal shape and is covered by a dome that is in line with Via Nicola Fabrizi and Corso Cavour, to whom all the building, seen from a distance, gives the impression of a terminal point. The church has seven chapels. On the main altar is an eighteenth-century statue depicting the Madonna of Carmel, with the Infant Jesus in her arms, in the act of turning the holy scapular to St. Simon Stock.

Chapel of St. Heart: it is located in the crossing of the church on the left of the main altar. The niche contains a statue of St. Heart.
Chapel of St. Crucifix: it depicts Mount Calvary, the cross on which Jesus stands against a background of dark clouds that hint of darkness that have arisen time of his death. Sitting at the foot is the Mother of Sorrows with his chest pierced by a sword.
Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes it is from right beside the main altar. In a cave that seems to remember that French is the wooden statue of Our Lady of Lourdes natural high that comes from the ancient church-cabin (after the earthquake stood at Via La Farina). At his feet there is a small Bernadet.
Chapel of St. Anne: the wooden statue of St. Anne holds an open book with the biblical passage "Rorate coeli et desuper nubes pluvant iustum" (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above the clouds rain down the Just). The Santa was, along with St. Lawrence, until 1988, co-owner of the parish that, on that occasion, changed its name to "Santa Maria del Carmine."
Chapel of St. Albert of the Abbots: the wooden statue of…

Built by the famous company Tamburini of Crema and tested on 30 January 1954, this organ is the most practical and perfect that could be offered at that time. It has two manuals of 61 keys, a fine console, beyond the radially concave pedalboard with 32 pedals brackets, adjusted every twenty registers, 17 of which are real mechanical. It has a complex of 1,400 rods which, placed on both sides of the loft, forms a complex rich sounds. It has just been subject to a restoration.