The church, which dates back to the 15th century and stands in the square of the same name, survived the demolition of the monastery, and its current decorative appearance, which is of considerable historical and artistic value, dates back to the 1624 reconstruction at the behest of Archbishop Girolamo Venero, author of major changes in the churches of Monreale, who rearranged it and enlarged it. On the outside, the church has a simple façade design marked vertically by plastered pilasters delimiting the façade; the gate, however, is richly decorated with pilasters, corbels and volutes in sandstone, and an aedicule above the portal houses a full statue depicting St. Castrense. The internal layout of the church is rectangular with a single nave. The simple layout can be ideally subdivided along the longitudinal development axis into three sections: the presbytery area; the liturgical assembly area, which stands out with its full-height pavilion vault, representing the area with the highest decorative density; and the area in front of the entrance, covered by a low vault supporting the choir above.
Decorative elements
In the presbytery, there is a grandiose precious marble altar with Baroque ornaments and a large silver tabernacle with small columns and two statues of St. Castrense and St. Benedict on the sides. The rest of the presbytery, which today appears rather devoid of other decoration, was once decorated with frescoes. Above the altar on the wall is a large canvas by Antonio Novelli, father of the more famous Pietro, dated 1602 and depicting the Virgin Mary of the People in Glory. In the part below, other small frescoes by the same artist depict the patron saints of the time, St. Castrense, St. Benedict, St. John, and St. Louis of France, all framed by stucco decorations. All the frescoes in the apsidal area as well as some of the stuccoes, as mentioned, were lost in 1950. They were actually removed as a result of renovation work, but some remain above the side altars. The side walls host stucco decoration in three decorative orders. In the lower register, four chapels dedicated to St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Family host four polychrome marble and stucco altars from the school of Serpotta, decorated mainly with festoons of flowers and fruit, elements that are not at all stylised, but rather defined with great care and characterised by great realism. Each of these plant elements is featured, as is often the case in Serpotta's decorations, to give a fascinating overall result. In a sacred and highly significant religious building of Monreale such as this one, one cannot separate the external aspect from the theological intent, so it is clear that the fruits of the earth fulfil two functions at the same time: they are gifts that heaven gives to man, which are also offerings from man to God if collected and nourished. While being ornaments in their own right, flowers, fruit, shells, scrolls and cherubs frame small frescoes and other important works such as Baroque reliquaries in carved and gilded wood, and 17th and 18th century paintings such as the large canvases depicting Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady with the Holy Virgins, St. Theresa, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Apollonia, the Deposition of Christ, the Glory of St. Benedict, and finally the Virgin and Child and the Holy Family in the second chapel of the church by Pietro Novelli on the right-hand wall, believed to be an early work by the artist. Along the middle register of the walls are the nuns' gratings in carved and gilded wood, also surrounded by stucco figures of saints, and windows alternating with stucco figures all-round are in the upper register of the walls. Above the entrance door is the large choir for the nuns, which forms a special raised space where the nuns of the monastery took their seats to attend mass and sing. It has large, thick gilded grilles rising up to the roof, and the wooden decorative apparatus consists of three parts: the base made of four carved and painted wooden panels supported by brackets, the lattice consisting of a larger curved projecting parapet, and a smaller one placed just above a large wooden shelf. The work of fine gilded wooden carving culminates in a large ribbed cornice, also richly carved and gilded, that follows the course of the ceiling vault.
Source: Pro Loco
