SUTERA

Sutera is a city of about 2,100 inhabitants located 590m asl on the slopes of the San Paolino Mount – which derives its name from a shrine in the area –, Caltanissetta province. The city underwent several dominations and rulers, the last of which was the Count of Caccamo Giovanni III Chiaramonte. A part of the urban planning reveals some Arab features.

Sutera’s major religious buildings are the Santuario di San Paolino, erected in the end of the 14^th century at Giovanni Chiaramonte’s behest, and the former convent of the Filippini Fathers, going back to the 18^th century. The three-nave church contains works of art like the 1400’s silver reliquaries of San Paolino and Sant’Onofrio.

Among the minor churches, worth-seeing are Sant’Agata, San Giovanni, the Carmine – guarding the marble statue of the Madonna del Soccorso and a wooden statue of the Virgin – and the ruined Santa Maria degli Agonizzanti.