The Church of Saint Joseph was founded at the end of the 16th century as a small chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph the Patriarch.
According to local tradition, a woman who lived beside the site where the church now stands dreamed one night that Saint Joseph appeared to her and instructed her to build a church in his honor. The following morning, she recounted the dream and received so many donations that she filled her apron several times with coins, which were then used to finance the construction of the church.
In 1770, through the efforts of Father Don Francesco Mansella, the church was enlarged to its present form.
In 1732, the barons Don Filippo Ciminna and Don Alonzo Spatafora, the physicians Don Vincenzo Gentile Francesco and Don Francesco Maria Canzoneri, the Reverend Abbot Don Francesco Morici, the vicars forane Don Rosario Scimeca, and the priests Don Rosario Lo Cascio and Don Domenico Chirafiso allocated revenues for the construction of the college, while the Confraternity of Saint Joseph granted the use of the church free of charge.
Inside the Church
- The Holy Family (polychrome wood), by Rosario Bagnasco, 1901.
- Saint Vincent Ferrer (painted polychrome wood), by Bartolomeo Brugnone, 17th century.
- Crucifix (painted polychrome wood), by Sebastiano Cannizzaro, 18th century.
- The Immaculate Conception (oil on canvas), attributed to Francesco Brugnone, 17th century.
