Chain Church

Located in the historic center of Piraino, the church of the Madonna della Catena dates back to the 17th century. It was erected in devotion to the liberating Madonna from pirate harassment, imprisonment and extramarital ties. Inside there is a marble statue of the Virgin. Once the women of the village venerated her by turning to her to implore grace so that the husbands or loved ones who had been imprisoned were freed. The church does not boast great architectural peculiarities but, in fact, retains the interesting sculpture of the Gaginian sphere, decorated with an octagonal pedestal that brings the figure of a Franciscan saint in bas-relief. A particularity of the church is also the wooden roof with false trusses. Documentation from the archbishopric of Messina has revealed the existence, already in the 16th century, of a brotherhood dedicated to the Madonna della Catena.