Church of Our Lady of the Star(Alcamo)
| Church of Our Lady of the Star | |
|---|---|
External view of the church
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Alcamo, Trapani, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 37°59′04″N 12°57′50″E / 37.98446°N 12.96390°ECoordinates: 37°59′04″N 12°57′50″E / 37.98446°N 12.96390°E |
| Territory | Alcamo |
| State | Italy |
| Province | Trapani |
| Region | Sicily |
| Country | Italy |
| Patron | Santa Maria della Stella |
| Completed | before 1130 |
The church of Our Lady of the Star (in Italian Santa Maria della Stella, originally called Santa Maria della Misericordia) is a church, now totally abandoned, located in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.
According to an old inscription of the 17th century, reported on the right low corner of the fresco of Our Lady of the Star (today hosted inside the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, it was built before 1130. At that time, the town of Alcamo was expanding towards north.
In 1221 the church was enlarged by the ancestors of the families De Ballis, Comes, Gentilis and Maurici. It was then designated as the mother church of Alcamo in May 1313 by the bishop of Mazara Gotofredo Roncione, on Ascension's day.
Later the town centre moved more towards south, and in 1332 they started the construction of the new mother church dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, which was completed in 1402.
In the 15th century the families Comes and Gentiles assigned the land adjoining the church to the Dominican friars in order to build a convent, with a garden and a vegetable garden. In 1427 Father Geremia, a Dominican friar, became the Pope and came to Alcamo to visit convents and establish a general reform.
In 1604 the confraternity of Rosary was incorporated by Dominicans and they decided to celebrate the feast in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary at their own expenses. Having noticed the distance which separated the convent from the town centre, the friars decided to build a new convent and a new church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary on the present premises in via Giovanni Amendola, abandoning the old convent in 1660. So in 1661 they moved the image of Our Lady of the Star, together with the wall, to the church of Our Lady of the Rosary.
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