monastero di San Francesco di Paola (Badia Nuova)

The church was founded in 1531 by Father Filippo Scamacca, while the convent of Saint Francis of Paola was built some decades later. In 1699 it was pulled down and enlarged with the construction of a new building and some gardens in the first half of the 18th century (1724), under the direction of Giovanni Biagio Amico, an architect from Trapani. Finally in 1968 it was restored because of the Belice Valley earthquake.
The convent was suppressed in 1866, opened again, and entirely restored in the subsequent decades.

The church plan is with one nave and a barrel vault with simple pillars, four side altars, and is embellished by a sober stucco decoration.

The convent of saint Francis of Paola
In 1567 Sister Margherita Montesa, together with four sisters, moved here from the convent of Santissimo Salvatore and became the first abbess. Owing to the 1866 Laws, the nunnery had to leave the western wing of the building to a Technica School, later to a lower Vocational School and then to an elementary school; today these premises are used by some associations.
The nuns, faithful to the charisma "ora et labora", live by praying and working; during the day they devote themselves to look after the kitchen garden and other works in the "convent workshops" such as:

sewing
knitting
embroideries
holy objects repairing
preparation of the famous sweets candied with pumpkin and figs on holidays
small wreaths with petals enamelled with starch.
wine from their own vineyards.
Many years ago the nuns attended Mass behind their high grids, today every morning they are inside the church to hear Mass.
Besides they are daily engaged with the Liturgy of the Hours and Lectio Divina, which believers can take part in on request.

Works
Inside the Church there are some 18th-century paintings and statues:

Saint Benedict from Norcia (on the first left altar): a wonderful canvas by Pietro Novelli with the Holy Trinity on the top, some Angels below it, and Saint Benedict in the middle while giving the rules of the Benedictine Order. Saint Placido is the gentleman on the left with a cane, next to him the Knights of Alcantara, and the Benedictine nuns on the right; below, on the left border, there is a self-portrait of Pietro Novelli (kneeling and with a large mantle) with a beard and a mustache.
the wooden…

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