Church of St. Gregory

The RUPESTRIAN CHURCH OF ST. GREGORY overlooks in a very large complex of caves – which includes in close proximity the two rupestrian churches of the “Madonna delle Sette Lampade” and the “Madonna degli Angeli”. The interior of the little temple presents architectural and iconographic features of great value and monumentality, which have made it rightly famous among scholars and art historians. Its original excavation probably dates back to the 9th-10th centuries and important actions of embellishment are presumably made starting from the 12th century. The pictorial equipment of the church is limited to only three iconic frescoes. The most important and celebrated of the paintings is undoubtedly the majestic Pantocrator, in the central dome of the apse which is compared by several parts – for the many stylistic affinities – to one of the most famous and important Sicilian mosaics of the 12th century, or the Christ of the Cathedral of Monreale, placing its construction between the end of the 12th and the 13th centuries.