Santa Teresa, Erice
The Church and Monastery of Santa Teresa is a Roman Catholic church and former Carmelite monastery in Erice, Sicily.
Founded in 1671 by the Badalucco family, it housed Discalced Carmelite nuns until its suppression in the 19th century. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the monastery became known locally as Palazzo Sales; since 2016 part of the complex has housed a hospitality and catering school. The Santa Teresa church remains open on an occasional basis.
History
The monastery was founded in 1671 by Tommaso and Maria Badalucco, descendants of the patrician Giuseppe Badalucco, who had stipulated in his will that his estate should be used to establish a Carmelite house if his family line ended. Their palazzo was converted to the new purpose, and in 1701 the first community of Discalced Carmelite nuns of Saint Teresa of Ávila entered the monastery.With an annual income of more than 600 scudi, it became one of the wealthiest monasteries in Erice. The nuns observed strict enclosure, dedicating themselves to prayer and to the preparation of sweets, embroidery, and elaborate waxwork figures known as campane. By 1860 there were sixteen nuns in residence, but after the suppression of religious houses in 1866 the monastery was closed.
The monastery's liturgical textiles and silverwork were dispersed among other churches in Erice. Some 18th-century embroideries and a paliotto depicting Saint Teresa survive in the Museo della Chiesa Madre, while paintings and devotional objects are kept in the Cordici Museum.
Modern use
In the 20th century the former monastery buildings were reused for various purposes, including as a college, wartime storehouse, and boarding school. In 1900 they housed the new state ginnasio “Vittorio Emanuele III,” opened at the initiative of government minister Nunzio Nasi. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries the monastery complex came to be known locally as Palazzo Sales.In 2016 part of the building was assigned to the state hospitality and catering school Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Ignazio e Vincenzo Florio as a branch site; in 2019 the school opened “Officucina” teaching laboratories there, and in 2024 it expanded the learning spaces with projects funded under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Parts of the complex are also used for cultural events, and the church is included in the “Erice – la Montagna del Signore” network that opens sites to visitors on a ticketed schedule; plans have also been advanced for the complex to house the municipal museum and library.
Architecture
The church, built between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, has a simple façade with a Renaissance-style portal and a small bell cell above. The single nave is paved with 18th-century Neapolitan maiolica tiles. Its altars once contained works by the painter Domenico La Bruna, including a Saint John of the Cross and a Crocifisso, both donated by Maria Badalucco.Other furnishings included a tufa statue of Saint Joseph, a canvas of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, an 1850 organ, and a 1853 pulpit. The main altar, enriched with silver and mirrors, was adorned in 1744 with stucco statues of the theological virtues by Pietro Dell’Orto, influenced by the school of Giacomo Serpotta. An inscription in the sanctuary records the transfer of Maria Badalucco's remains to the monastery.
The church ceiling was frescoed in the 18th century and reworked in 1953 by the Ericine artist Augugliaro, nicknamed ’u scarvacchiu.