Chiesa di San Matteo al Cassaro

The story

San Matteo stands on the Cassaro, just past the Quattro Canti, and was built in the 17th century for the Compagnia del Santissimo Crocifisso, which still uses it.

The front has two orders, squeezed between the houses of the street; the interior, a Latin cross with a dome, is decorated with inlaid marble and stucco.

The niches along the nave hold statues attributed to Giacomo Serpotta, Palermo’s great stuccoist, and 17th- and 18th-century frescoes complete the scheme.

Why it is worth it

It is a church that does not make the quick guidebooks, which is exactly why you can look at it in peace. The nave is tall and dim, your eyes adjust slowly and then start to pick out the stucco figures in the niches, white against dark marble. Below, the company’s crypt shows how these confraternities worked.