8. Church and Convent of the Carmine

The complex forms the backdrop to the entire Piazza Busacca.
The design of the church and convent (Fig. a), dating from the second half of the 18th century, can be attributed to a Carmelite friar, Fra Alberto Maria di San Giovanni Battista, and has a remarkable stylistic homogeneity.
The church, built in Rococo style, has a three-order façade with three parts (Fig. b). An elegant portal in the central part is decorated with floral motifs (Fig. c), bordered by pilasters and surmounted by a large window with simple cornices.
The church has a single nave, preceded by a double apse narthex with a choir above. In the centre of the semicircular apse is a marble altar with a statue of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Fig. d).
On the last altar of the left aisle is a 15th-century cedar wood Crucifix (Fig. e).
The façade of the convent is articulated in a double order: in the first, there are the workshop rooms and the entrance portal, which leads to the cloister through the portico in the second, there are a series of windows and a central balcony, enriched by a wrought-iron railing. The cloister flooring is made of pebbles arranged according to a geometric design. The convent ends with an elegantly sculpted stone balustrade.
The cloister flooring is made of pebbles arranged according to a geometric design (Fig. f).