Santa Teresa alla Kalsa

The story

The church of Santa Teresa was built between 1686 and 1706 for the Discalced Carmelite nuns, to a design by Giacomo Amato, the architect who did more than anyone to shape Palermo’s baroque. It stands on piazza Kalsa, a few steps from Porta dei Greci and the seafront promenade of the Foro Italico.

The two-tiered façade, with columns, niches and statues, is among Amato’s finest. The single-nave interior is decorated with 18th-century stucco and canvases by Sicilian painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The district’s name comes from the Arabic al-Khalisa, “the chosen one”, the fortified citadel of the emirs in the 10th century. The church remains the religious heart of this part of the Kalsa, among alleys, palaces and the nearby Steri.

Why it is worth it

The façade presents itself all at once, tall and pale above the square, and it is worth looking at from a distance before you approach. Inside the baroque is warm and gilded, with stucco framing dark canvases. The Kalsa around it alternates restored palaces and courtyards still scarred, and the church is a good spot to get your bearings between Porta dei Greci, the Spasimo and the sea at the Foro Italico.