Santa Maria della Catena

The story

Santa Maria della Catena faces the Cala, the old harbour, and was built between the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Tradition attributes it to the circle of Matteo Carnilivari.

The name comes from the chain that closed the mouth of the port and was anchored nearby. A local legend tells of innocent prisoners miraculously freed from their chains in front of the church.

The style mixes Catalan Gothic and Renaissance: a three-arched portico above a flight of steps, and an interior of three naves under cross vaults.

Why it is worth it

The steps and the portico make a stage above the Cala: you sit on them and watch the boats, with the church at your back. Inside, the cross vaults and slender columns give a lightness the city’s baroque churches do not have. This is where Palermo goes back to being a seaport.