//
18th century. Inside, in correspondence with the altar (removed), there is a very damaged painted image depicting the Crucifix between the apostles Peter and Paul. Today it is in a state of neglect.
Chiesa del Santissimo Sacramento al Circolo
Votive church built in the second decade of the 18th century, based on a project by the Militellese architect Don Antonino Scirè Giarro, it was intended for the perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It has a singular carved Baroque facade with a concave Borrominian profile, surmounted by a bell loggia with a three-light fan profile. Inside, decorated with elegant stuccoes in the late Baroque style, it preserves the valuable statue with its fercolo of Sant'Antonio Abate in the chair of 1575, the work of the Bivonese sculptor Antonio De Mauro, coming from the church of S. Antonio Abate. Of particular interest is the predella of the statue of the saint with scenes from his life depicted in relief. A tombstone from 1724 (today exhibited in the Treasury of S. Maria della Stella) remembers the spouses Alfio Palermo and Fortunata of the barons Lamia, benefactors of the church, buried here. The church also has two interesting frescoes, on the pillars of the large chapel of the presbytery, depicting the coat of arms of the Bourbons of Naples and Sicily in the two different elaborations, of Charles III and Ferdinand III of Sicily.
It was built in 1503 through the interest of the confraternity of the same name, in the place where, according to a local tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua stopped during his journey from Lentini to Vizzini in 1223 (second journey to Sicily). The church, remodeled several times over the centuries, had six Renaissance-style chapels with carvings, one of which is still visible. In addition to the devotion to the titular saint, devotion to the Virgin of Monserrato was cultivated in it, of which a statue made by Matteo Frazzetto in 1583 and then rebuilt in the 18th century (now in the San Nicolò Museum) was kept. The presence of a chapel called the Holy Sepulchre, accompanied by a clay sculptural group depicting the Deposition of Jesus (now disappeared), and a Maltese cross on the façade suggest a connection between the confraternity of this church and some Jerusalemite order. The dome from 1574 with a blind hexagonal lantern that overlooks the presbytery area (former chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is completely unique: characterized by a ribbed vault on an octagonal base with angular spandrels with projecting steps, it refers to similar solutions of medieval architecture of Sicily, filtered in the light of the new language of the Renaissance imported perhaps, in this case, by Giandomenico and Antonuzzo Gagini active in Militello in those years.
Chiesa del Calvario
The church is mentioned for the first time in a bishop's decree of 1503. It was built for devotional purposes on top of the Caruso hill, in a dominant position over the town, in memory of Golgotha. Later the confraternity of the SS. Crocifisso al Calvario will assume its care and administration. In the following century it was enlarged and assumed the shape of a cross with the addition of three apses surmounted by an octagonal blind lantern, as seen today. The valuable carved chapel with reliquary of the high altar belongs to this building phase. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 (many faithful gathered in prayer died in the collapse), in the mid-18th century it was repaired and enriched with stuccos, new altars, sacred furnishings and a valuable Crucifix object of particular veneration in Lent. In 1740 the Catanese painter Giovanni Meli was commissioned to paint the large canvases placed along the walls of the nave, depicting: Christ on Calvary (stolen), Christ mocked, Christ scourged and Christ in the garden. In 1762 the Catania architect Francesco Battaglia designed the original portico that closes the facade, under which the famous and evocative rite of the crucifixion and deposition of Jesus takes place every year on Good Friday.
Chiesa confraternale degli Angeli Custodi
Known by the Militellesi simply as the Angel, it was built in 1639 on the initiative of some priests of the city, zealous in works of charity, on the site where a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael had already stood since the 13th century. The old hospital run by the Compagnia dei Bianchi was annexed to the latter (hospital perhaps was built by the Knights Templar). After the hospital was transferred to another place and the Company ceased to take care of the church, in 1657 it became the seat of the new Congregation of Maria Santissima degli Agonizzanti, still active, which had the purpose of offering comfort to the dying and a worthy burial to the needy. Restored following the 1693 earthquake, the building has valuable rococo style stuccos and a splendid Caltagirone ceramic floor from 1768 (in 2000 some majolica tiles from the floor were stolen). The church also has two canvases depicting the Archangels Michael and Raphael and a positive organ from the early 18th century, now transferred to Santa Maria della Stella for safety reasons.
Chiesa confraternale di San Sebastiano
Mentioned for the first time in 1504, it was the seat of the homonymous brotherhood perhaps connected to the Order of Malta (as can be deduced from a sign on the facade). In 1572 it became a destination for devotees and pilgrims who acclaimed San Sebastiano martyr co-patron of Militello, for having freed the city from the scourge of the plague. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it was rebuilt in 1702 incorporating the portal of the 16th-century church into the façade. It has three altars in all and the main altar contains the statue of San Sebastiano with wooden ferrule, framed by a magnificent carved stone chapel in Baroque style from 1708. Other furnishings, vestments and sacred furnishings, including the silver reliquary of San Sebastiano, are exhibited in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella.
Chiesa del Purgatorio
Dedicated to Saints Vitus and Gregory the Great, but better known as the Purgatory, it was built in 1613 to replace the old church of San Vito, located elsewhere and now in ruins. The elegant intaglio prospectus of 1690 is due to the Militellese master builder Giacomo Barone. Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was immediately repaired. With a single nave and three altars in all, it is decorated inside with valuable and sumptuous polychrome stuccos with allegorical figures and has a grandiose high altar with steps in gilded wood with zecchino, surmounted by a small throne for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.