SUTERA
Sutera is a city of about 2,100 inhabitants
located 590m asl on the slopes of the San Paolino Mount – which derives its
name from a shrine in the area –, Caltanissetta province. The city underwent
several dominations and rulers, the last of which was the Count of Caccamo
Giovanni III Chiaramonte. A part of the urban planning reveals some Arab
features.
Sutera’s major religious buildings are the Santuario
di San Paolino, erected in the end of the 14th century at
Giovanni Chiaramonte’s behest, and the former convent of the Filippini
Fathers, going back to the 18th century. The three-nave church
contains works of art like the 1400’s silver reliquaries of San Paolino and
Sant’Onofrio.
Among the minor churches, worth-seeing are Sant’Agata,
San Giovanni, the Carmine – guarding the marble statue of the
Madonna del Soccorso and a wooden statue of the Virgin – and the ruined Santa
Maria degli Agonizzanti.