Description of the attraction
Basilica Maria Santissima Annunziata is the old church of Trapani and one of the main attractions of the city, located in its historic center. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmelite.
The first small church built on this site in 1250 was called Santa Maria del Parto and belonged to the order of the Carmelite monks. Then another, larger church was erected, which was expanded in the 18th century.
Today, this temple houses a priceless marble statue of the Madonna and Child, also called the Madonna di Trapani, whose creation is credited to one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the 14th century, Nino Pisano. The statue is revered in all Mediterranean countries, and the basilica is now one of the most famous in western Sicily.
Inside the church there is a chapel, built in 1586, in which you can see a silver statuette of St. Alberto degli Abati, created by the master Vincenzo Bonayuto, and an ark with the relics of the saint, in particular, his skull is kept in it. Nearby there is a small cell in which Alberto degli Abati lived, and where the remains of the blessed Luigi Rabat lie. And under the main altar of the basilica are the remains of the Roman great martyr St. Clement.
The central nave of the church, with sixteen columns and silver stucco, was redesigned in 1742 by the local architect Giovanni Biagio Amico in the Baroque-Renaissance style. A round rose window rises above the main entrance.
Next to the basilica is the monastery of the Carmelites, an order that was once one of the largest in all of Italy, and the monastery courtyard. Today the monastery houses the Agostino Pepoli Museum. A little further is the garden of Villa Pepoli, turned into a city park.
Every year, from 1 to 16 August, Trapani hosts a religious festival in honor of the Madonna and Child, which attracts thousands of pilgrims and ends with a procession carrying out a replica of the famous statue from the basilica.
