Sanctuary of Maria Santissima di Custonaci

This sanctuary, located on a hilly relief in the centre of today’s town, is responsible for the birth of the urban centre of Custonaci. The history of the sanctuary goes back in time to the arrival from the sea of a precious painting of the Madonna (1471-1521) – perhaps attributable to an artist in the workshop of Antonello da Messina- first kept in a chapel dedicated to the Vergine sulla collina (Virgin on the hill). The painting would later find its home in this important sanctuary, which developed in the surrounding area at the top of the hill from the middle of the 15th century and has undergone numerous alterations over the centuries. There are many valuable elements that embellish and characterize the spaces. Outside, the churchyard that surrounds it is paved with small river pebbles decorated with floral and geometric patterns. Inside, there are eighteenth-century furnishings, such as the carved wooden choir, the frescoes depicting the nativity of the Virgin and the nativity of Christ with the shepherds (by Domenico La Bruna) and the polychrome marble tribune made by workers from Trapani with local marble decorated with five statues. Finally, the decorations of the vaults of the two 20th-century aisles by Carlo Righetto are dedicated to the history of worship.