Page 347 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Piazza Duomo • Tues–Sun 11am–2pm

With its twisted barley-sugar columns, intricate wrought-iron balcony, and stone as
delicately worked as silver, the facade of Santa Lucia alla Badia is one of Ortigia’s

prettiest. The original church, built by Queen Isabella of Castille on the site where it
was thought Santa Lucia had been raped, was completely destroyed in the 1693
earthquake. Dedicated to Siracusa’s much-loved patron saint, it was the focus of
celebrations for the miracle of Santa Lucia in May. The mother superior clearly
understood the resonance of this site for the people of Siracusa, and immediately after
the earthquake requested that a shack was erected among the rubble, as a temporary
church.

Her request was denied, so that work could start on the new church straight away.
The building was supposed to be completed within two years – another sign of how
important this church was felt to be for Siracusa – although in the end, it wasn’t
completed until 1703. The nuns – belonging to a closed Cistercian Order – returned,
and there are still poignant indications of what life was like for them here, notably the
oval parlatorio (to the left as you enter) with grills set in the wall so that nuns could

talk to their families without being seen.

THE MIRACLE OF SANTA LUCIA

In the mid-seventeenth century, Sicily was suffering from famine. Under Spanish

rule, the island was in a parlous state: rural areas were neglected by the aristocracy
and fleeced by farm managers known as gabelloti, and urban centres riven with
poverty. In Palermo these conditions gave rise to a riot; in Siracusa, in May 1646,
people gathered instead in the cathedral to pray to Santa Lucia. As they were
praying, a dove flew into the Duomo, shortly followed by the news that a ship laden
with grain had arrived in the harbour. According to tradition, people were so hungry

that there was no time to grind the wheat into flour, so they ate the grains boiled in a
kind of porridge, known as cuccia. These days cuccia has been vastly improved –
the wheat berries are served mixed with sweetened ricotta, candied fruit and
chocolate; while Santa Lucia is still celebrated with processions and fireworks on
her feast day, December 13, and in May, when quails are released in Piazza Duomo

to record the miraculous news-bearing dove.

The Burial of Santa Lucia
For the past few years Santa Lucia alla Badia has been the temporary home of one of

Siracusa’s most prized works of art, The Burial of Santa Lucia by Caravaggio.
Having escaped from prison in Malta, Caravaggio arrived in the city in October 1608
and received an immediate commission to have a painting of Santa Lucia ready for her
festival on December 13. Some scholars think the fact that the upper two-thirds of the