The Cathedral of Santa Maria delle Stelle is the Mother Church of the city of Comiso, in the province of Ragusa. It has the dignity of a minor basilica. The basilica was built between the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth century, on an embankment in front of the waters of the Fonte Diana, where there were the remains of a pre-existing temple, of Chiaramonte layout, dedicated to Santa Maria del Mulino (for the proximity to an ancient mill) and dating back to the XII century.
In the first decades of the sixteenth century, the first "clock of the time" was installed on the external wall of the transept (south-east side), which later, exactly in 1881, will be replaced by a more modern clock, while the old clock will be transferred to the church of the Madonna delle Grazie. Destroyed largely by the disastrous earthquake of 1693, it was quickly rebuilt thanks to the contribution of Count Baldassarre IV Naselli and the various local workers who took turns around the temple, including the Comisan sculptor Emanuele Lucenti, who worked in the carving of the temple moldings.
The restoration works, led by the archpriest-parish priest Francesco Maria Porcelli, were sent so quickly that on 13 December 1699 the bishop of Syracuse Asdrubale Termini was able to reconsecrate the temple, as evidenced by a commemorative plaque placed inside the cathedral to the right of the door greater.
Santa Maria delle Stelle Church
Address: Via S. Biagio 16, 97013
Phone: 0932 961558
Site:
https://www.diocesidiragusa.itLocation inserted by
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