A Guest Article by Gian Marco Talluto
The first parish of Piana dei Greci was erected on August 30, 1488 by the archbishop of Monreale, Cardinal Juan de Borja of Mercu and Ayndingli to the Albanian exiles coming from the Balkan peninsula. Since 1784 the church was the seat of the ordaining bishop of the Byzantine rite in Sicily.
Until July 1924, in Piana degli Albanesi, the church of San Demetrio was the only parish of the Byzantine rite with a college of four parish priests. On that date it was ecclesiastically split and three other parishes were created, namely that of San Giorgio Megalomartire, that of Santissima Annunziata and that of Sant'Antonio the Great.
On October 26, 1937, on the feast of San Demetrio and with the establishment of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, the church was elevated to the dignity of a cathedral and of the Sicilian-Albanian communities of the Eastern rite in Sicily.The cathedral is accessed via a late baroque staircase. The façade features two mosaics from the Monreale school from 1960 depicting Christ on the throne flanked by the figures of St. George and St. Demetrius.
The cathedral has three naves, separated by two rows of seven marble columns. An imposing wooden iconostasis covers the three apses.
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The main apse, initially facing East according to the Byzantine canon, was relocated towards the West in the sixteenth century reconstruction. Between 1641 and 1644 Pietro Novelli painted the frescoes of the apses. In the central one the Exaltation of the Trinity is represented.
To the right, Christ's Ascension. In the left nave there is a large oil painting on canvas (D'Antoni A., 1845) depicting St. Nicholas donating his goods to the poor. The oldest work of greatest artistic importance though is the Icon of Christ with Mary from the Sienese school of 1500, the only one painted in egg tempera.
On the right wall there is the tomb of the Servant of God Father G. Guzzetta, one of the most illustrious men of Piana.
Following the restorations of 1960, the choir was transformed and enlarged and the barrel vault of the central nave replaced with a coffered roof with gold decorations..
The two distinct styles are evident in the church: a western one, represented by the frescoes by Pietro Novelli and the various paintings on canvas; the other Eastern, attested by the iconostasis and the icons placed in the side naves.
A grandiose cycle of late twentieth century frescoes in neo-Byzantine style by the Greek iconographer Eleuterio Hatsaras decorates the walls of the central nave, presenting the great feasts of the liturgical year. To the right, the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Circumcision, the Presentation in the Temple, the Theophany, and the Transfiguration; on the left side we find the Resurrection of Lazarus, the Feast of Palms, the Deposition of Christ, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Exaltation of the Cross. Higher up, in the second figurative order, are found the prophets of the Old Testament.
The depiction of the Mystical Supper dominates the great arch, presented in a sort of diptych: on one side Christ distributes the Holy Bread to six Apostles, while on the other he offers the Chalice to the other six. Overlooking this scene, in the tympanum, is the Déisis: Christ Pantocrator sits on the throne between the two mystical personifications of Christian prayer, the Virgin and St. John the Baptist who, with open hands towards him, intercede for humanity, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
The cycle of frescoes, still in progress, has not yet been completed and is missing the themes contemplating the life of Saint Demetrius and the history of the Albanian exodus in the lower area of the side naves.
A ciborium with wooden columns was recently installed in the apse behind the iconostasis.
The cathedral has ancient epitaphs, stone-carved coats of arms of local families and funerary and celebratory lapidary inscriptions, numerous in the Albanian language, some of which have been inexorably lost, destroyed or reduced to fragments due to restorations carried out in 1960 without methodological and conservation criteria. Later they were moved from inside the church and gathered in the corridor preceding the sacristy.
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| 1912, 1950's, 2024: A look at the historical transitions of the Cathedral |
