MOTHER CHURCH S. Nicolò 1693-1741

In the old city of Abola, in the Hyblaean mountains, the Mother Church, recorded in the Vatican annals with the name of St. Nicholas, was destroyed by the earthquake of 11 January 1693. Giovanna and Nicolò Pignatelli Aragona Cortés, marquises of Avola residing in Madrid, sent the Jesuit architect Angelo Italia (Licata 1628-Palermo 1700) from Palermo to rebuild the city near the coast and the Mutubè feudal land. On 16 March 1693, Italia began tracing the hexagonal perimeter of the new Avola and the two main roads: the perpendicular meeting of the north-south Cardo (Corso Garibaldi) and the east-west Decumanus (Corso Vittorio Emanuele) formed a cross and formed the city centre.