St. Julian Church

It was built, according to tradition, by the Great Count Roger, in 1076, in gratitude to St Julian for his help in the siege of the Mount still in Muslim hands. Erice retained the name Monte San Giuliano until 1934.

The church, originally small, located as it is in the centre of the town and at the highest point of the Mount, became increasingly important and was therefore enlarged several times. It was rebuilt in its present form between 1612 and 1615.

The exterior of the church is very simple, characterised by the presence of the bell tower, added in 1770 and which, with its pagoda spire and two superimposed orders, forms an attractive ensemble with the church's mamelliform dome.

The interior, with a nave and two side aisles with four mighty columns on each side, presents itself after the restoration in all its architectural splendour, emphasised by white plaster rendered even brighter by the lateral stone face walls.

The left apsidiole is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, and was the patronage of the Confraternity of the Conception aggregated to the Church of St Julian in 1590.