San Vito Lo Capo Sanctuary Museum

The Museum of the Sanctuary of San Vito Lo Capo, housed in the premises surrounding the church and formerly intended for the garrison and the hospitality of noble pilgrims, is open during the summer season.

The Museum includes a remarkable collection of precious sacred silverware, historic 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 through the centuries and presents itself as a very interesting blend of military construction elements (the lance tower, the arrow slits, the gatekeeper, etc…), religious (votive niches, the rose window, the bell tower, etc…), and civil (the noble staircase, the sundial, the balconies, etc…).

The first room is dedicated to the silverware, mostly of Sicilian manufacture, belonging to different eras: the oldest date back to the late 1500s, the most recent to the 21st century. The room also houses the most important work, the wooden statue of the Immaculate from the 15th century, and an Ecce Homo in stucco, made by Orazio Ferraro in the 16th century, a delicately crafted piece, once placed on 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 historic vestments come from Palermo workshops of the 1700s. Particularly significant is the collection of red vestments, consisting of a chasuble, planet, dalmatic, and tunicle.

The noble staircase displays paintings, some of contemporary art. From the staircase, you reach the room—interesting from an anthropological perspective—dedicated to popular devotion, presenting everyday life objects offered to the Saint: ex votos, woodcuts, oleographs, holy cards, statuettes, ceramics, and glass paintings from Italy and Europe.

The room also houses significant gifts from the towns of San Vito in Italy, including “la centa” (a candle braid) from the shepherds of Irpinia (San Gregorio Magno) and a model of the Sanctuary of San Vito di Nole (Turin).

Finally, you reach the terraces from which you can enjoy a superb panorama.