The Church of Santa Chiara is situated in the historic centre of Caltagirone.
According to tradition, it was the saint of Assisi herself who built the church to encourage the presence of the newly founded monastic Order of the Poor Clares in Sicily.
However, it is more likely that the monastery was founded in the first half of the 16th century.
Despite the earthquakes of 1693 and 1698, the church was quickly rebuilt.
The building has a slightly elliptical plan. It features a rich majolica floor, built in the 1950s according to the ancient design of Francesco Branciforti, a master ceramist from Calatino.
The balustrade of the apse area is also made of polychrome majolica.
The church’s monastic use is evidenced by the tribunes equipped with “gelosie”, the grates beyond which the nuns attended the celebrations.
Unfortunately, the monastery no longer exists. The former Electrical Workshop, an Art Nouveau work by the architect Ernesto Basile, later occupied the site.
The church also expresses the great devotion of the people of Calatino to St. Rita of Cascia (1381-1457).
The statue and the paintings with scenes from the life of the saint justify the custom of referring to the church with the name of St. Clare and St. Rita.
