Church of the College of Jesuits (Alcamo)

Church of Jesus
The façade of the church of Jesus
Basic information
Location	Alcamo, Trapani, Italy
Geographic coordinates	37°58′47″N 12°57′55″E / 37.97976°N 12.96535°E / 37.97976; 12.96535Coordinates: 37°58′47″N 12°57′55″E / 37.97976°N 12.96535°E / 37.97976; 12.96535
Affiliation	Catholic
Territory	Alcamo
State	Italy
Province	Trapani
Region	Sicily
Country	Italy
Patron	Jesus
Architectural description
Founder	Father Vincenzo Abbati
Groundbreaking	1684

The Church of Jesus or Church of the College of Jesuits is a Catholic church located in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. It is the second largest church in Alcamo, after the basilica di Santa Maria Assunta,

The church's construction began in 1684, thanks to the savings made by the Jesuits who built it on a piece of land given by the Town Council; in exchange for it, they undertook to make several building improvements at their own expenses, in particular:

On 7fh June 1725 Father Vincenzo Monteleone from Alcamo, who was the rector of the Jesuits' College, was appointed as the procurator for the building of this Church which in that period reached only the height of 8 palms on the western side, opposite the town walls.

On 29 July 1764 they inaugurated the Church with a solemn ceremony; later they decorated it with stuccoes and in 1767 completed its construction, which lasted 80 years on the whole, so people called it "the Church of Patching".

In 2014 they made some restoration works on the façade.

In 1748 there was already existing the Congregation of the Maestranza of Rope Makers, probably taking part in the secret Congregation of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary; as their patron, they venerated Christ tied to a column, a wooden statue inside a small chapel which is located next to the secondary church entrance in via Mazzini.

The façade of the church is dominating piazza Ciullo: it is in Baroque style and is enriched by square pilasters with Doric-Tuscan and ionic orders. There are five niches on this façade and they contain the statues of saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier, Our Lady of Miracles (the patroness saint of Alcamo) and the archangel Michael and Raphael. In 1931 the three statues which are placed in the lower part were restored (free of charge) by Giuseppe Bambina, a sculptor from Alcamo. It was necessary to restore them because of the damage provoked by Garibaldi's troops that threw stones and shot their guns against them when they entered the town on 17 May 1860.