The Church of Saints Sebastian and Fabian is also known as the Church of the Collegio, because it stands beside the Institute of the Daughters of the Cross. It is considered the oldest church built outside the Bagherino gate, the oldest quarter of the village.
The exact foundation date is unknown, but the entrance portal bears the date 1646. Over the centuries the building was repeatedly altered; today it has a single nave and a quiet, compact interior.
Its most moving object is the Urn of the Dead Christ, brought here from the Church of San Giovanni Battista after that church collapsed in 1932. According to a tradition documented at least since the 19th century, the urn is carried in procession every Good Friday. The church also preserves a wooden statue of Saint Sebastian and 18th-century canvases by the Palermo painter Giuseppe Testa.
NoteExterior always visible. Interior depends on opening hours.
Among the oldest churches built outside the Bavarino gate; entrance portal dated 1646.
Its 1688 Perdichizzi painting — the Holy Family above a panoramic view of Collesano, a 17th-century "before photo" of the town — is now kept in the Mother Church.
1797 canvas signed by Giuseppe Testa of Palermo.
Wooden Crucifix recovered in 1932 from the collapsed Church of San Giovanni Battista.
Hosts the Good Friday processions "A Cerca" and "Morte e Passione".
Historically the seat of the Accademia degli Offuscati, a 17th-century literary academy.
Timeline
c.1406–08A wooden “Mourners” group (Virgin and St John), attributed to Francesco di Valdambrino and commissioned by Antonio Ventimiglia, is made.
1646The date carved on the entrance portal — the only firm construction date (the foundation is older but undocumented).
1688Don Giuseppe Perdichizzi paints the Holy Family above a panorama of Collesano.
1693The Val di Noto earthquake ruins the castle, making the 1688 panorama the only image of the earlier town.
1797Giuseppe Testa of Palermo signs an altar canvas (Madonna with Sts John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila).
1932When the Church of San Giovanni Battista collapses, its wooden Urn of the Dead Christ is moved here.
People & families
Don Giuseppe Perdichizzi— priest-painter native to Collesano; his 1688 panorama is the town’s most precious historical record (now kept in the Mother Church).
Giuseppe Testa— Palermo painter who signed the 1797 altar canvas.
Francesco di Valdambrino— Sienese sculptor to whom the wooden “Mourners” group (c.1406–08), commissioned by Antonio Ventimiglia, is attributed.
Adelasia del Vasto (c.1075–1118)— Norman countess credited with Collesano’s castle, around which the oldest quarter grew; the street here, Via Contessa Adelasia, keeps her name.
Stories & traditions
The lower half of the 1688 painting is, in effect, a photograph taken before photography — the churches and castle of Collesano as they stood before the 1693 earthquake.
The church is the engine of Holy Week: the dawn “A Cerca” Via Crucis (the Christ falling three times) and the evening “Morte e Passione” procession both set out from here on Good Friday.
It was the seat of the 17th-century literary Accademia degli Offuscati; on St Sebastian’s feast it hosted the election of the academy’s “Prince”.
Its other name, “del Collegio”, comes from the adjoining Institute of the Daughters of the Cross; the quarter’s gate name, Bagherino, is said to come from Arabic Bāb Haggarīn, “gate of the stonecutters”.
Visiting
HoursOpened for Holy Week processions and feast days
AdmissionFree
AccessStreet-level portal; single-nave interior is level.
