9. Church of St. Matthew

Saint Matthew, the Mother Church of the medieval town, stands on the top of the hill of the same name (Fig. a). Destroyed by the earthquake, its reconstruction was started on the same site. After the earthquake, the town continued to move towards the valley where a Jesuit church dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola was built and declared the Mother Church. As a result, the reconstruction work on Saint Matthew’s was abandoned.
The façade has two orders: the lower one has three entrance portals bordered by pilasters.. The central entrance is larger than the two side entrances and is bordered by columns..
The upper, incomplete order consists of a central window flanked by columns, pilasters, and two elliptical volutes (Fig. b).
The side façade, facing the city, ends with a three-part bell loggia, built on the exact spot where the bell tower of the pre-existing church stood before the earthquake. (Fig. c).
The interior, with a basilica plan, has three naves ending in three quadrangular apses, a structure that probably reflects the medieval layout. The nave is separated from the side aisles by pillars, decorated with pilaster strips with capitals of a composite order (Fig. d) which support, on each side, an architrave onto which five large windows open (Fig. e).
Restoration work brought to light the Ragusa and white stone flooring in geometric shapes (Fig. f).