Church of Our Lady of the Assumption

The foundation date of the Mother Church, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta and commonly known as Santa Maria Maggiore, is still uncertain. Local scholars believe it dates back to the Norman period and that it was enlarged in the second half of the 14th century, taking on the Gothic appearance it kept until 1764, the year it was completely demolished. It is thought to have had three naves divided by pillars with pointed arches. The new design was entrusted to the Gangi architect Gandolfo Bongiorno. The front of the church was changed, its original appearance altered and the ancient bell tower pulled down. Off the right-hand nave opens the Chapel of the patron saint, San Gandolfo da Binasco, which houses the precious silver reliquary urn of the Blessed, made by various artists from 1549 onwards, the marble altarpiece depicting the Virgin with Saints Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua, and the marble ark of San Gandolfo made by Domenico Gagini in 1482.

In the chapel of the Blessed Gandolfo is the Flemish triptych originally from the church of Santa Maria di Gesu. The work depicts the Mater Sapientiae with the Child on her knees gently crumpling the book of wisdom, and is by an anonymous Flemish painter active around the third and fourth decades of the 15th century.

In the presbytery stands the great Triptych of the Visitation, dated 1519, attributed to the Spanish painter Joannes de Matta, an artist to whom other paintings are ascribed, such as the Spasimo, a copy of Raphael's celebrated masterpiece.

On the altar of the chapel of Saint Joseph, besides the Madonna and Child of 1473 documented as the work of Domenico Gagini, is the statue of the titular saint attributed to Filippo Quattrocchi.

In the chapel of the Crucifix one may admire the reliquary ark of Saint William, co-patron of Polizzi together with San Gandolfo, ascribed to an unknown Sicilian wood carver of the first quarter of the 18th century, and the Crucifix attributed to a probable Trapani sculptor of the late 17th century.