Acireale Cathedral (, ''Cattedrale Maria Santissima Annunziata'') is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of

Acireale Acireale (; , locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. It is home to ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, province of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Italy. It was declared the seat of the Bishop of Acireale in 1870. It was declared a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in 1957.

The present cathedral building, which is located in the ''Piazza Duomo'', was constructed as a simple parish church between 1597 and 1618 that was greatly enlarged a few years later when it received the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

Saint Venera Saint Venera (''Veneranda, Veneria, Venerina, Parasceve'') is venerated as a Christianity, Christian martyr of the 2nd century. Little is known of this saint. The date of her death is traditionally given as July 26, 143 AD. In the ''Catalogo Sa ...

, one of the two patron saints of the city. The structure survived the earthquake of 1693, and the present cathedral is a 17th-century building with significant additions from each succeeding century. Of particular note are the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

portal representing the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

by Placido Blandamonte of

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

, dating from 1668, combined with a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

west front by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, completed after his death in 1891 to his plans, of c.1900. The two

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

s, in

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

style with octagonal bases, although identical in appearance, are centuries apart in construction: the one to the south is from 1655, as is the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, while the one to the north, as well as the

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

, are from 1890. The interior is 17th century Baroque. The interior decoration includes painting by

Pietro Paolo Vasta Piero or Pietro Paolo Vasta (31 July 1697 - 28 November 1760) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in the east of his native Sicily. Biography He was born in Acireale. and initially trained with both the painters Giacinto ...

, Francesco Mancini Ardizzone, Antonio Filocamo,

Giuseppe Sciuti Giuseppe Sciuti (Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, 26 February 1834 – Rome, 13 March 1911) was an Italian painter. Biography His father, a pharmacist, insisted his son follow his trade. But he relented and allowed Giuseppe to study locally at age 15, a ...

Francesco Patanè Francesco Patanè (1 June 1902 – 21 June 1980) was an Italian painter, engraver, and sculptor. He was born in Acireale, and was active in his native Sicily. He painted altarpieces and frescoes for the church of San Sebastiano and the Cathedral ...

, and

Giacinto Platania Giacinto Platania (Acireale, circa 1612 - 1691) was an Italian painter. Biography He first trained with his father Antonio, who in 1630 painted a ''Guardian Angel'' for the Cathedral of Acireale. Platania left record of the 1669 Etna eruption, ...

. Private Acireale tourism site
.

Notes

External links

Diocese of Acireale: official website
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Sicily Roman Catholic churches in Acireale 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1889 {{Italy-RC-cathedral-stub