Santa Maria dell'Itria

About

Santa Maria dell’Itria (Saint Mary of Itria) is a historic Roman Catholic church in Trapani, Sicily, traditionally associated with the Discalced Augustinian order and commonly known locally as Santa Rita. The church forms part of a former convent complex whose buildings are today incorporated into the Liceo Scientifico Vincenzo Fardella.

Santa Maria dell’Itria developed as the church of the Convento degli Agostiniani Scalzi, established in Trapani in the early seventeenth century. The convent community belonged to the Discalced Augustinian reform, whose members played an active role in pastoral care and preaching in the city.

Giuseppe Maria Di Ferro records in 1825 that the present appearance of the church and convent was the result of a comprehensive reconstruction promoted by a Trapanese friar, Fra Santo da San Domenico. This phase gave the complex its architectural and artistic character, transforming it into one of the most scenographically ambitious religious ensembles in Trapani.

By the early twentieth century the Augustinian convent attached to Santa Maria dell’Itria had been repurposed for secular use. Its buildings now form the central headquarters of the Liceo Scientifico Vincenzo Fardella, a secondary school occupying the former seventeenth-century convent annexed to the church.

In the present day, Santa Maria dell’Itria continues to serve as a place of worship and is listed among the active churches of Trapani by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trapani.

Di Ferro attributes the design of the two-storey marble façade to the Trapanese architect Pietro Lo Castro. Executed in the Corinthian order, the façade was conceived to imitate the scenographic composition of the complex of Santa Maria della Pietà in Palermo and was completed in 1745. Di Ferro further records that, at the summit of the upper level, appeared the coat of arms of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, flanked by two small domes supporting the church bells and a public clock.

According to the official tourism office of the Comune di Trapani, the church occupies a prominent position on Via Garibaldi and follows a longitudinal basilica plan reflecting its Baroque reconstruction over an earlier religious foundation.

Inside the church, Di Ferro records a rich artistic programme. Among the sculptural works was a Dying Christ by the Trapanese sculptor Milanti. At its foot stood a half-length painting of the Virgin of Sorrows attributed to Sebastiano Conca, brought from Rome by Father Bernardino Augliaro, Visitor and Commissary General of the order. Di Ferro praises the dignified sorrow of the Virgin’s expression and the natural rendering of her hands.

Another notable work was a Saint Nicholas of Tolentino by Andrea Carreca, admired for its lively imagination, confident brushwork and expressive character, with the saint portrayed as enraptured by celestial harmony played by an angel. Additional paintings included a figure of the Virgin Mary and an Ecstasy of Saint Rita of Cascia, both commended for their delicate execution and natural expression.

The architectural and artistic ensemble described by Di Ferro reflects the church’s role as a major Augustinian religious centre in early modern Trapani, consciously designed to combine theatrical architectural composition with a refined devotional programme.