The church owes its construction to the will of Leonardo Lo Faso, 3rd Duke of Serradifalco, in 1740. It was dedicated to the glorious Saint Leonard, Abbot of Noblac, in 1845 by Monsignor Antonino Maria Stromillo, the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Caltanissetta. The architecture of the church reveals a late-Baroque layout with neoclassical elements, evident in the two-tiered façade marked by pilasters and in the triangular pediment surmounting the main portal, flanked by elegant bell loggias.
The interior, with a single nave, is adorned with a decorated barrel vault and houses an important artistic heritage. Among the most significant works stands the wooden statue of Saint Leonard, sculpted in 1662 by Giancarlo Viviano, which depicts with intense expressiveness the saint with broken chains, a symbol of liberation. Originally commissioned in 1662 for the Old Mother Church of San Francesco, the statue is now venerated in the New Mother Church. The frescoes by the Palermo painter and sculptor Leopoldo Messina, and the processional urn with the Deposed Christ, a work by sculptor Francesco Biancardi, make this church not only a place of prayer but also a symbol of the town’s collective memory and cultural identity. The church also preserves refined bas-reliefs narrating the life of Saint Leonard, as well as precious sacred furnishings and liturgical vestments.
The Mother Church of Serradifalco is not only a place of prayer, but also a symbol of collective memory, a living testimony of popular devotion and of the town’s cultural identity. Visiting this building means immersing oneself in the history of a community that, through its art and faith, has managed to preserve and transmit over time the most authentic values of its heritage.