St. Sebastian, Palazzolo Acreide

The church of St. Sebastian (Italian: San Sebastiano) is a Baroque church in Palazzolo Acreide, Sicily.

The original church of San Sebastiano was built in the 15th century, in the same site of the current edifice, next to a smaller church dedicate to St. Roch. It was enlarged in the 16th and 17th centuries but, like most of the edifices of Palazzolo, was destroyed in 1693 by a huge earthquake.

In the early 18th century a new edifice was built, with a nave and two aisles. The monumental façade was begun in 1723, with design by the Syracuse sculptor Mario Diamanti: it was completed, along with the campanile, in 1768.

The church is noteworthy for its fine Baroque decorations, including a wide usage of stuccoes in the interior. The vault of the central nave has three large 19th-century frescoes, while the altars are in polychrome marbles, with altarpieces or statues portraying saints. The central nave ends with an apse including the St. Crucifix Chapel and a majestic marble high altar, with a 17th-century crucifix.

Other artworks include the titular saint's statue (by an unknown artist, 1663), as statue of the Madonna, the organ (1728-29) and a painting of St. Marguerite by Olivio Sozzi (1758)