Right here stands Palermo’s Chiesa del Gesu also known as Casa Professa. It is one of Sicily’s most important Baroque churches. The Jesuits arrived in Palermo in 1549. By the late 16th century they began building their church. It was to be next to their professed house, the Casa Professa.
Giovanni Tristano, a Jesuit architect designed it. His original plan featured a single nave. Large transepts and side chapels were also included. The design changed in the early 17th century. It became a more grandiose layout typical of Jesuit architecture. Natale Masuccio removed the chapels’ dividing walls. He added two side naves to the central one. The Chiesa del Gesu was consecrated in 1636.
Look at the facade. It’s divided into two sections by a cornice. In the lower part are three portals. Above these are niches with statues. These depict St Ignatius of Loyola, Madonna with Child and Francis Xavier. The upper section is divided by pilasters. Corbels and statues of saints frame it. A curved-segmented gable and the Jesuit emblem surmount the facade.
Masucci planned belfries but they were not completed. The current campanile dates from the 18th century. It was built on the adjacent Palazzo Marchesi.
Inside the Chiesa del Gesu the layout forms a Latin cross. The nave stretches 72.10 meters long and 42.65 meters wide. It soars to a height of 70 meters. Polychrome marbles, stucco, and frescoes decorate it. The marble reliefs display unique figural and ornamental motifs. Look at the pillars and marble mosaics. The rebuilt structure features a double dome and stained-glass windows.
The interior received new decorations starting in 1658. This continued well into the next century. This baroque decor includes marble bas-reliefs on the tribuna. They depict the Adoration of the Shepherds 1710 to 1714 and Adoration of the Magi 1719 to 1721. Gioacchino Vitagliano created these after designs attributed to Giacomo Serpotta. A fresco of the Adoration of the Magi graces the walls of the second side-chapel to the right. Antonino Grano added it in the 1720s. The church also houses a relief of the Glory of St Luke by Ignazio Marabitti. Procopio Serpotta son of Giacomo completed much of the interior stucco decoration.
Inside the Chiesa del Gesu, you’ll discover a total of 15 chapels. Touring each one reveals the church’s rich history. The presbytery offers visual representations of Jesus’s glory. The pipe organ was constructed in 1952 by the Crema Tamburini Company.
In 1892 cavaliere Salvatore Di Pietro a philanthropist convinced the minister of public education to declare the church a national monument.
During the Second World War in 1943 a bomb collapsed the dome. It destroyed most of the surrounding walls. Wall paintings in the chancel and transepts also suffered. These frescoes were replaced during two years of restoration. The church reopened on 24 February 2009.
The Chiesa del Gesù stands as a testament to Palermo’s history and artistic brilliance. Its walls echo with stories of faith artistry and resilience.