San Tommaso Apostolo, Alcamo

San Tommaso Apostolo
Chiesa di San Tommaso Apostolo
Side view of the church of Saint Thomas
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic
Province	Trapani
Region	Sicily
Location
Location	Alcamo, Trapani, Italy
State	Italy
Territory	Alcamo
Geographic coordinates	37.981122°N 12.967815°E / 37.981122; 12.967815
Architecture
Completed	about 1450
Specifications
Length	10.50 m
Width	5.30 m

San Tommaso Apostolo ("Saint Thomas the Apostle") is a former Catholic church located in Alcamo, in province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.

History

The church, dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle, was probably built by the Marcanzas' ancestors at about 1450. It is the only church which has remained integral among those built before the 16th century in Alcamo.

In 1599 the company of the Holy Ghost was founded in this church.

The roof, which had been damaged by rain, was reconstructed by the government and the town council in 1928.

Since 1984 it has been the seat of Alcamo Rotary Club.

Description and works

The church's facade.

The church has little sizes (10,50×5,30 metres). The interior has got a single nave and is divided by a pointed arch leaning on two wall columns; the ceiling is covered by two pointed cross vaults, with prominent shaped ribs and keystones, which are interrupted by capitals as high as the vault and continuing to the floor, where there is a common base with one of the columns bearing the arch. One of the capitals is decorated with acanthus leaves, the other one with wickerwork.

The pointed external portal (known also as "Saint Thomas' portal") is richly engraved and combines the Hohenstaufen-style module of the arch with the Chiaramontan intaglios ); it is dominated by a single lancet window, magnificently carved and enriched by two small columns embedded into the wall.

Today the white marble baptistery, realized in the 15th century, is inside the Sacred Art Museum of Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Sources

• Culmone, Luigi; Mistretta, Pier Francesco (2011). La Chiesa di San Tommaso Apostolo: una luce dal Medioevo (in Italian). Alcamo: Rotary International.
• Regina, Vincenzo (1972). Profilo storico di Alcamo e sue opere d'arte dalle origini al secolo XV (in Italian). Alcamo: Edizioni Accademia di Studi "Cielo d'Alcamo".
• Cataldo, Carlo (2001). La conchiglia di S. Giacomo (in Italian) (Edizioni Campo ed.). Alcamo.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)