Church of Santa Maria Della Grotta

The area on which the church stands has a complex and stratified history. In Punic times, it housed a necropolis with tombs dug into the rock. During the Roman period, between the end of the second and third centuries AD, the area was used for quarrying the stone needed for the building expansion of the city of Lilybaeum, which became a Roman colony. In late Roman times, the quarries ceased activity and were turned into a cemetery area by the early Christian community, which was also used by groups of the Judaic religion, as attested by the discovery of oil lamps depicting the menorah.

Later, the area was designated for a Greek-rite abbey of the rule of St. Basil, established in 1097 by Count Roger after the Norman conquest of Sicily. The monks adapted the existing hypogea for cultic and living purposes, decorating the altars with frescoes that testify to links with Greek-Byzantine culture. Prominent among them is the Theory of Saints, still visible.

In the late 12th century, the abbey was unified with the abbey of the same name in Palermo. Several structures were built in the 15th century, including altars and underground chapels. In 1550, Charles V handed the complex over to the Jesuits, who held it until 1860. During this period, the hypogeal complex continued to be used for liturgical purposes.
In 1712, the Jesuits entrusted the church’s rebuilding project to Don Joanni Amico. The baroque, semipogean church was carved out of the underground complex and features a large single-nave hall, covered in white stucco, with a dome embellished with green tiles. Passed to the State Property Office in 1866, the church remained open for worship until 1968, when it was closed due to collapses caused by the earthquake. Today the complex is part of the Archaeological Park of Lilybaeum-Marsala.
Tours are by archaeologists from the ArcheOfficina cooperative.