The church of Carmine dates back to the XIII century and was placed outside the town. According to tradition, thanks to Saint Angelo, who came in 1220 to Licata to preach and suffer martyrdom, was founded the convent of the Carmelitani Fathers. The religious complex of Carmine for its antiquity and greatness was always chosen as centre of studies for the religious of Sicily and seat of various Provincial Chapters of the Order of Carmel.
The church is presented in baroque style with an imposing and monumental prospectus realized in 1748 by the architect Giovan Biagio Amico from Trapani.
The interior, with a nave, preserves several works of art. At the entrance you can see artistic sarcophagi and mausoleums of patrician families of the city of XVI and XVII century. On the walls of the church are placed ten medallions of Carmelite Saints, attributed to the painter Domenico Provenzani from Palma di Montechiaro.
In the first two altars are placed the canvases of Giuseppe Felici from Trapani of 1732 depicting “The transit of Saint Giuseppe” and “Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi”. In another altar there is a marble arch from the beginning of the XVI century of Gagini school where the two founders of the ancient Gela and heraldic elements are represented.
Behind the main altar, where the statue of Madonna del Carmelo of the XVIII century is placed, there is also the sacristy in which you can see the cross vault of the XIII-XIV century.
The CONVENT, which houses municipal offices, is one of the oldest in Licata and stylistically follows the artistic form of the prospectus of its church. The entrance leads to a large cloister, in which you can notice the portal and two mullioned windows of chiaramontano style of the fourteenth century, while on the upper floor there is a large hall where are placed the half busts of two Carmelite friars with their epigraphs. From another entrance you can enter into another room with painted wooden ceiling and coffered.
