A church already stood on this site in the mid-15th century on land belonging to the Billè family, who held its patronage rights and began the construction of the adjoining convent. In 1510, they donated the complex to the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

From that time onward, the Dominican friars regarded the church as their own, carrying out numerous building works, embellishments, and granting portions of land. The convent’s most distinguished benefactor was Don Guglielmo Ventimiglia, Marquis of Geraci and Baron of Ciminna.

The church was also home to the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, founded in 1571, and the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, established in 1554.

Inside the Church

  • Tabernacle of the Pietà (marble), by Antonello Gagini, 1522.
  • Crucifix (painted and gilded polychrome wood), by an unknown sculptor, mid-15th century.
  • Our Lady of Loreto (painted and gilded marble), attributed to Antonello Gagini, 1533.
  • Pipe Organ and Choir Loft (gilded wood with five arches), built by the Palermo organ maker Raffaele La Valle in 1590.
  • Christ the Saviour (oil on canvas), by an unknown 17th-century painter.
  • The Helping Saints (Santi Ausiliatori) (oil on canvas), by an unknown 18th-century painter.
  • The Glorification of Saint Dominic with the Apostles Peter and Paul (oil on canvas), attributed to the Ciminna-born painter Don Francesco Gigante, late 17th century.
  • Saint Catherine Receiving the Stigmata (oil on canvas), signed and dated 1663 by Don Francesco Gigante.
  • The Circumcision of Jesus (oil on canvas), painted by the Ciminna-born artist Melchiorre Di Bella in 1773.
  • Our Lady of the Rosary with Saints Dominic of Guzman, Thomas Aquinas, and Catherine of Siena (oil on canvas), signed and dated 1767 by the Ciminna-born painter Melchiorre Di Bella.
  • Our Lady of the Rosary with Saint Dominic of Guzman (polychrome wood), created by the sculptor Filippo Quattrocchi of Gangi in 1781.

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