The first
mother church of
Alcamo, positioned on the north side of the quarter of San Vito, was first dedicated to Our Lady Source of Mercy (
Santa Maria Fonte della Misericordia, 1200) and then to Our Lady with the Star (
Madonna della Stella). This Church is still existing under the name of Santa Maria della Stella, though in a state of abandonment. In 1332, the inhabitants of quarter of
San Vito moved near the
castle of the Counts of Modica, was built in a Catalan-
Gothic style with a nave and two side aisles and had a wooden ceiling and side chapels not aligned. It was enlarged and modified in 1471, 1530-1558 and 1581. About the 16th century it gave the name to one of the four districts in which Alcamo was divided, the so-called "Maggiore Chiesa". In 1602 in this Church they founded the company of Santa Maria dello Stellario (Our Lady of Stellario), formed by countrymen (
"villani") and butchers (
"macellai"), The church was rebuilt in 1669 by
Archduke Joseph and
Angelo Italia (an architect from the
Society of Jesus), while the
neo-classical façade was realized in 1786 by Emanuele Cardona. In 1918 in the mother church they founded the congregation of the Sacramentines, then the congregation of Ursulines (1919) on the first centenary of the introduction of the
Immaculate Conception's dogma, a statue of the Madonna was placed on the bell tower. In May 1969 the Church of
Our Lady's Assumption was elected as a
basilica. The garden adjoining the church, since the 15th century, was used as a cemetery for poor people, with an altar where to celebrate Mass during maladies and a stone cross with an
aedicula sacred to
Our Lady of Mercy. In the 20th century it became a public garden and in 1929 they placed the
War Memorial, realized by Bentivegna, a sculptor from
Sciacca. == Description and works ==