Can you visit the Benedictine Monastery in Sicily?

Access to this monastery is heavily restricted as it remains one of the few cloistered convents in Sicily where the nuns maintain strict enclosure. You cannot freely enter the monastery, though you may be able to view its exterior from the plaza and appreciate its architectural features from outside.

What is the architectural style of the Benedictine Monastery?

The monastery features a simple, unadorned exterior with plain windows, but the inner courtyard showcases beautiful Baroque-style decorated windows. The interior includes barrel-vaulted ceilings in the parlor, revealing a blend of austere external design with ornate interior details characteristic of Sicilian religious architecture.

When was the Benedictine Monastery built and inaugurated?

The monastery was inaugurated on June 12, 1659, making it a significant example of 17th-century Sicilian religious architecture. It was constructed on a semicircular flight of steps in a plaza where streets once intersected at a column marked with a cross.

What religious artifacts are housed in the monastery?

The monastery guards an important religious image known as Our Lady of the Rosy Dove, which remains within the cloistered convent. Additionally, the grounds feature a sculpture of the Madonna with St. Benedict arranged in a tree-filled garden accessible from the barrel-vaulted parlor.

What can visitors see at the Benedictine Monastery from outside?

While interior access is forbidden, visitors can observe the monastery's distinctive semicircular flight of steps and the plaza setting from the outside. The exterior's simple architectural design with unadorned windows provides insight into the austere religious lifestyle maintained by the cloistered community within.

Benedictine Monastery — Palma di Montechiaro

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Religious places 📍 Palma di Montechiaro, Italy 169 views

Benedictine Monastery

It stands on a semicircular, impervious flight of steps, in a square plaza with the streets intersecting at the place once marked by the column with the cross. It was inaugurated on June 12, 1659. The monastery has a simple appearance with unadorned windows. The inner courtyard,...

Photo · Marta S.

Benedictine Monastery — Palma di Montechiaro, Italy.

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Palma di Montechiaro

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Religious places

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About Benedictine Monastery

Benedictine Monastery - Palma di Montechiaro | Secret World Trip Planner

It stands on a semicircular, impervious flight of steps, in a square plaza with the streets intersecting at the place once marked by the column with the cross. It was inaugurated on June 12, 1659.

The monastery has a simple appearance with unadorned windows. The inner courtyard, however, is overlooked by windows decorated in the Baroque style. Inside, the parlor has barrel vaults from which there is access to a garden full of trees in which a sculpture of the Madonna with St. Benedict is arranged. The nuns guard, in addition, Our Lady of the Rosy Dove. Even today it is one of the few cloistered monasteries in Sicily, access to which is forbidden to almost anyone.

Why it is worth a stop

Benedictine Monastery