CHURCH OF THE GESÙ, Presentation
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Language: English / USA
Hi, my name’s Marcy, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Church of the Gesù.
The Church of the Gesù, also known as Casa Professa, was founded by the Jesuits and is one of the most beautiful and important Baroque buildings in Sicily.
In 1549, the Jesuits were summoned to Palermo to preach and to take care of public education. The Norman abbey of Santa Maria la Grotta was thus given over to them to be turned into a Casa Professa, or mother house, as Jesuit churches with a school adjacent to them are known.
Work on the new church began in 1564, under the direction of Giovanni Tristano, a Jesuit from Ferrara who designed a rather simple, functional structure....