Page 532 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

The old town

Mazara’s old town is where all the interest lies, bordered by the River Mazaro and

sea on two sides and the main corsos – Umberto I and Vittorio Véneto – on the other
two. At the southern end of Corso Umberto I, Piazza Mokarta holds the scant ruins of
Count Roger’s castello, magnificently floodlit at night, when the square is the focus of
promenading crowds.

From Piazza Mokarta, Via Garibaldi leads up to Santa Veneranda, perhaps the most
beautiful of Mazara’s Baroque churches, its twin belltowers styled with a jaunty twist.

Further west at the edge of the old town on a platform overlooking the Mazaro River,
the church of San Nicolò Regale has a more restrained air. A restored Norman
church, it has strong Arab elements, with a honey-toned, battlemented exterior and a
simple interior rising to a single cupola.

The Duomo

Piazza della Repubblica • Usually daily 9am–noon & 4–7pm

Mazara’s Duomo was originally Norman but completely remodelled in the late
seventeenth century – though the relief over the main door showing a mounted Count
Roger trampling a Saracen underfoot was carved in 1584. The light and airy interior
reveals an almost indigestible profusion of stuccoed and sculptured ornamentation,

including, behind the altar, a group of seven marble statues depicting the
Transfiguration, carved by Antonello Gagini. To the right, a niche reveals a fragment
of Byzantine fresco, dating from the end of the thirteenth century, while, through the
marble doorway on the right side of the nave, you’ll find some excellently chiselled
Roman sarcophagi, with reliefs of a lively hunting scene and a battle, rich with
confusion. Outside the Duomo, Piazza della Repubblica heralds a harmonious set of
Baroque buildings: the square itself is flanked by the elegant, double-storey porticoed

facade of the Seminario and the Palazzo Vescovile, both eighteenth century.