MAZARA DEL VALLO, Diocese of. - City and diocese in the province of Trapani, in Sicily. It has an area of 1905.10 sq km; population 252,800, all Catholics; 50 parishes, served by 197 diocesan priests and 34 regulars, one seminary, 8 male religious communities and 38 female. Patrons are the holy martyrs Vitus, Modestus and Crescentia.
I. HISTORY
M. was an emporium of Selinunte and derived its name from the river Mazaros, near whose mouth it is situated. It was occupied by Gaius Duilius during the Second Punic War; it appears in the Itinerarium of Antoninus; on 17 June 827 the Arabs landed there, and from there they set out to conquer Sicily, which they subsequently divided into three districts or valleys, one of which was that of M. In 1073 the Normans took possession of it, and they surrounded it with a double wall with a castle, of which some ruins remain.
The diocese was erected in 1093 by Urban II, when the episcopal see of Lilibeo was transferred there: its territory extended from the Belice to the mountains of Corleone and to the Tyrrhenian Sea, near Sferracavallo. The first bishop was Stephen de Ferro of Rouen, a relative of Count Roger. The third bishop, Tristiano, in 1176 ceded Jato and Calatrasi to the archdiocese of Monreale, to which 9 other communes of the jurisdiction of M. were assigned on 20 May 1844 by Gregory XVI, who with the bull Ut animarum pastores of 31 May of the same year erected the diocese of Trapani with territory taken from the diocese of M. Of its 67 bishops two were cardinals: the famous Bessarion (1449) and Gian Domenico Spinola (1637-46). Since 1933 it has been governed by Msgr. Gioachino Di Leo. By decree of 15 Sept. 1950 of the S. Congr. Concistoriale, the Island of Pantelleria was transferred to the diocese of M.; the communes of Alcamo, Calatafimi, Castellammare del Golfo and the village of Borgo Fazio to that of Trapani (AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 888-89).
II. MONUMENTS
The Cathedral, begun by Count Roger, was restored by Bishop Giovanni da Monteaperto (1470-85); Bishop Luciano de' Rossi (1589) completed the dome and the organ, built the baptistery, restored the choir and the pulpit; in the apse, rich with Baroque stuccoes by the Ferraro of Giuliana, one admires an effective marble Transfiguration by Antonello and Antonino Gagini (1536). By Antonino Gagini is also the beautiful statue of the patron saint in the church of S. Caterina. Of the 16th century and adorned with a characteristic dome are the oratory of S. Egidio and the church of the Carmine. Of Norman date and similar to the contemporary churches of the Trinità di Delia in Castelvetrano and of S. Maria dell'Ammiraglio in Palermo is the church of S. Nicolochio, with a central plan and dome. In 1710 Bishop Bartolomeo Castelli rebuilt the Seminary; in the small square in front stands the statue of St. Vitus, a work by Ignazio Marabitti (1771).
About 1 km. from the built-up area there rises, on a hill, the sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Alto, founded by Roger, later becoming a commandery of the Hospitaller Order of St. John, and rebuilt in different periods. Another suburban church is the 15th-century one of S. Maria di Gesù, with a fine portico and valuable sculptures. In M. there are also some Christian tombs.
Bibliography9 works
Enzo Navarra