San Vito Lo Capo Sanctuary Museum

The Museum of the Sanctuary of San Vito Lo Capo, located in the premises surrounding the church and which were formerly intended for the garrison and the hosting of noble pilgrims, is open during the summer period.

The Museum includes a remarkable collection of precious sacred silver objects, historical vestments, and a section dedicated to the cult of San Vito in Sicily and Italy.

The architecture of the building, with its layers, shows the evolution of the Sanctuary over the centuries and presents itself as a very interesting mix of military construction elements (the spear tower, the cannons, the guard door, etc.), religious elements (the votive niches, the rose window, the bell tower, etc.) and civil elements (the noble staircase, the sundial, the balconies, etc.).

The first room is dedicated to silver objects, most of Sicilian manufacture, belonging to different periods: the oldest date back to the late 1500s, the most recent to the 21st century. The room also houses the most important work, the 15th-century wooden statue of the Immaculate, and a stucco Ecce Homo, made by Orazio Ferraro in the 16th century, a delicately crafted work, which was formerly located at the main altar of the Sanctuary.

The next room is the vestments room, the most important of which is the now famous 17th-century green velvet chasuble. The historical vestments come from 18th-century Palermo manufactories. The collection of red-colored vestments is particularly significant, consisting of a pivial, a planet, a dalmatic, and a tunic.

The noble staircase exhibits paintings, some contemporary art. From the staircase, one reaches the room – interesting from an anthropological point of view – dedicated to popular devotion, which displays everyday life objects donated to the Saint: ex-votos, woodcuts, lithographs, religious prints, statuettes, ceramics, and paintings on glass from Italy and Europe.

The room also hosts significant gifts from the towns of San Vito in Italy, among which is “la centa” (woven sails) from the shepherds of Irpinia (San Gregorio Magno) and the model of the Sanctuary of San Vito of Nole (Turin).

Finally, one reaches the terraces from where there is a superb panoramic view.