Ferla takes its name from a plant growing luxuriant in the high Anapo valley: the “ferula”.
Re-build after the terrifying earthquake of 1693 in a place to the north of the ancient medieval village destroyed by the earthquake, today Ferla has a crossed urban map.
Town life develops in Vittorio Emanuele course, where there are churches with a specific baroque hallmark. The biggest church of Ferla is St Sebastian, whose front is characterized by a various sculptured group representing the martyrdom of the Saint.
The front, carried out between 1734 and 1741, is by the architect Michelangelo Di Giacomo.
Besides the mother church, dedicated to St James, build in 1714 on a pre-existent church, in the crossing with Braida street, the stairs of St Anthony church, whose front is characterized by the baroque influences of the architect Rosario Gagliardi.
The building is in bad conditions: it has a Greek cross map and an octagonal dome.
The church of St Mary of Jesus, already existing in the 15th century, keeps a marble sculpture of the Madonna with Child of the school of Antonello Gagini and a wood crucifix of the 17th century by Giovanni Pintorno.
“Archive A.P.T. Syracuse”
Chiesa di S. Antonio (Foto: E. Zinna)
Chiesa di S. Sebastiano (Foto: E. Zinna)
