Chapel of Saint Joseph

3 Minutes of reading

According to oral sources, the present chapel was built in the 1970s, financed by funds collected door to door from the citizens of Delia.

Cappella di San Giuseppe

The Chapel of Saint Joseph is located in the district of the same name, within the territory of Delia, on the border with the Cappellano district, in the territory of Caltanissetta. It stands on a rocky spur isolated from both the old and the new routes of the SP1 Delia–Caltanissetta road, which at this point cut through Mount Comune, breaking the continuity of the ridge where the old route of the Naro–Caltanissetta “trazzera” must once have run.

Previously, in the same spot but a few meters away, there was another smaller chapel dedicated to the saint, whose remains are said to still be there. A thorough historical investigation by local scholars to determine the period in which the old chapel was built, the reasons for its construction, and other details has never been carried out.

At first glance, its location seems to mark the southern boundary of the estate that belonged to the Jesuit villa-farm of Cappellano, situated on the same road axis, about one kilometer away in a straight line. The hypothesis also identifies the Jesuits as patrons, dating the old chapel to between the 17th and 18th centuries, certainly after 1617, when the Jesuits purchased the estates of Cappellano and Ciciri Verdi from the Moncada family, and later Imboscamento, thus gaining the opportunity to begin building the large villa-farm.

Indeed, Saint Joseph, patron of the Church and protector of workers, occupies a central place in Jesuit spirituality. The Jesuits played a major role in spreading devotion to the saint, both in art—where they helped shape the popular image of Saint Joseph as a humble, hardworking, and just man, often depicted with the tools of his trade or the blossoming staff—and in popular worship. It is surely for this reason that, in the nearby community of Delia, devotion to the saint has always been stronger than that shown to the town’s patroness, and celebrations in his honor are still deeply felt today.

You might also be interested in...