5. Church of Saint Mary of Bethlehem

It stands in the lower part of Modica and was built in the 14th century on the site of four other pre-existing churches: Santa Maria di Berlon, Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, Saint Anthony of Padua and San Mauro.
The current building, (Fig. a)rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, has a 15th-century layout, rebuilt at different times, from the 16th to the 19th century, maintaining some pre-existing elements
The façade has two orders (Fig. b), made in different centuries. The first order, from the 16th century, has three parts. The nave’s entrance is larger and bordered by two pilasters supporting a cornice. The second order, neoclassical in design, is divided from the first by a trabeation above which, in the centre, is a large window supporting the trabeation of the upper tympanum. On the left side façade is a limestone lunette datable between the 15th and 16th centuries depicting an adoration of shepherds (Fig. c).
The church has three naves bordered by columns on each side (Fig. d). The roof of the nave is made of exposed wooden trusses with a decorated wooden coffered ceiling (Fig. e). This aisle contains the majestic organ built in the first two decades of the 19th century as well as a monumental wooden pulpit. At the end of the right aisle is the oldest chapel, characterised by a portal in late Gothic style with Renaissance influences (Fig. f), with a square base plan supporting the octagonal tambour on whose pendentives the dome with lantern is set.
In the left aisle, in a side chapel, a Nativity scene by Bongiovanni Vaccaro (a famous ceramist from Caltagirone) dated 1882 can be admired. It is composed of sixty painted terracotta statues that depict the ancient customs of Modica peasants with extraordinary naturalness.