Church of St Mary of Graces

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, commonly known as the Badia Nuova (New Abbey) to distinguish it from the Badia Vecchia or church of Santa Margherita, stands in the Santa Maria Maggiore quarter. The building arose in 1499 out of a dispute between two noble families of Polizzi, the La Mattina and the Signorino, over the succession to the title of abbess of the Badia Vecchia.

On the death of donna Preziosa Pigneri it was expected that Sister Scolastica Signorino would succeed her, according to an earlier agreement. The La Mattina family, however, managed to impose a relative of their own, donna Lucrezia La Mattina. To soften the affront suffered by their sister Scolastica, who had not been elected abbess, the Signorino family then had a new church and a Benedictine monastery built, incorporating the old church of San Mattia Apostolo. Sister Scolastica moved into the new building, not far from the Badia Vecchia, together with five other nuns. The church was completely rebuilt at the end of the 18th century, as recorded by a plaque above the portal on the facade.

Inside, in the great chapel of the high altar, stands the largest wooden tabernacle in Sicily, carved by the Polizzi sculptor Pietro Bencivinni between 1697 and 1710. The tabernacle, a pyramidal architectural structure on three orders with a crowning finial, is enriched with volutes, twisted columns, winged cherub heads, festoons, busts and statues of saints.

The floor is also of interest, laid with monochrome diamond-shaped tiles in pale blue and white dating from the first half of the 18th century.