Better known as the Church of the Itria, it is located in the Carmine neighbourhood. The church was built in 1596 and is dedicated to Our Lady “Odigitria”, or “she who shows the way”, a Byzantine cult linked to an icon venerated in the area since the Middle Ages. The simple façade contrasts with the richness of the interior decorated with stuccoes by Serpotta and frescoes from the school of Pietro Novelli, such as “St Francis receiving the stigmata” located in the presbytery vault. On the altar was the Madonna dell'Itria altarpiece by Giuseppe Alvino, dating from 1590, which is now in the Diocesan Museum. The Hospital of Santa Caterina was built in a section of the church in 1646, with a beautiful Baroque façade facing Via Pietro Novelli. Today it houses the Modern Collection of the Santa Caterina municipal library and the municipal historical archive named after the Monreale historian Giuseppe Schirò.
Source: Pro Loco
