Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art Montevergini

The seventeenth-century Church of Santa Maria di Montevergini, including the ancient Benedictine Monastery, is one of the most important examples of monastic Syracuse. It is located on the island of Ortigia, historical center of the city.

The construction of this monastery dates back to 1555 and was led by Osorio Vega (then Governor of Syracuse), who built this monastery in the fourteenth century on the site of the Cistercian monastery dedicated to “Saint Eustace” (collapsed during an earthquake occurred in the first half of 500).

In 1624 this monastery was flanked by the baroque church of Santa Maria di Montevergini. The church and convent were damaged by the earthquake of 1693 but, being them fairly recent buildings, they didn’t collapse. Since 1866 the church and the convent were closed to worship and all the works of art were transferred to other churches. During the bombing of 1943 the vault of the Church of Santa Maria di Montevergini irreparably collapsed and it has been rebuilt only recently. Since 1997 the church houses the Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art.

From the original sacred building you can admire only the beautiful facade of the seventeenth century Baroque Church.

The church has a single nave covered by a wooden ceiling. Here, as in the halls of the former Benedictine monastery, many works of contemporary art are showed.