As a brontese historian writes, "where there is a temple, a church
there is an aggregation of men town, village, farmhouse and the
history of the towns, of the villages intertwines with the history
of the churches origin".
The churches of Santa Maria di Gollia, San Mauro, S. Nicolò De
Petra (in
Santa Nicolella district) and San Marchetto (with an
annexed hospice) were dependant to the Monastery of S. Filippo
di Fragalà.
Other churches of Norman epoch, placed in the districts
Corvo, Rotolo and Santa Parasceve, are mentioned in a
privilege of
Nicolò I°, archbishop of Messina.
Tradition preserved in 18° century writings mentions other four
churches found in Bronte by king Ruggero: the church of
San Marco on the hillock of the same name, that of
Salvatore between San Marco and the Ciapparo
district, that of S. Giorgio, which was near the ossuary
of the present cemetery (was shaped like Greek cross with frescos on
the walls and the date of 1121) and the church of Santa Maria
or
Chiesa Maggiore which was in the district of the SS. Trinità.
Besides the rural churches of the districts Cattaino, Carbone,
Bolo, Scalavecchia, Placa Baiana, Spanò, Ricchisgia, the Radice
remembers those:
of
S. Isidoro in district
Barbaro (which probably was a parish),
of
S. Nicolò Castellaci (shaped as a Greek cross),
of
Santa Maria della Scala (in district Piana, called also
Santa Maria
dell’Odigitria, patron saint of the Albanian colony),
of
Cristo alla Colonna (near the Simeto river).
Were covered by the lava of the 1651 the
churches of
Sant'Antonino, of S. Pietro
dell’Illichito (in district
Brignolo) and of Purgatorio.
"Which and how many churches – concludes
Benedetto Radice - could exist in the ancient, original
Bronte...other than district of fifty straw stacks!".
During the centuries Bronte changed many times its
membership Diocese. Till 1178 Bronte depended from
Messina, from 1178 to 1801
passed under the dependence of Monreale, and then went back to Messina
until 1817. After a short period in which depends to Nicosia
diocese (1817-1844) passes definitively under the present
Catania diocese. |
The old Church of Madonna del Riparo |
The rural San Michele church of the ancient Casale di Placa
Bajana. Its inhabitants were the last to move to Bronte (from
1692 to 1730). |
The last church of Bronte, dedicated to Saint Agata, has
replaced the ancient little church of
San Nicolò in the Sciarotta District |
|