Church of San Pietro

The Church of San Pietro was founded in 1365 by a papal edict issued by Pope Urban V at Avignon. During the 16th century it became closely associated with the newly established Monastery of the Poor Clares, founded in 1542 by the noble priest Pietro Marazano. An elevated arch spanning Via Gian Filippo Guarnotti still links the church with the former convent, creating one of the most distinctive architectural features in Erice. Following the suppression of religious orders in 1866, the monastery passed into civic ownership before eventually becoming part of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture.

The present church is largely the result of an 18th-century rebuilding attributed to the Trapani architect Giovanni Biagio Amico. Inspired by the work of Francesco Borromini, Amico created an elegant Baroque interior organised around an oval plan, giving the church a harmonious and unusually fluid spatial arrangement. The adjoining monastery preserves much of its 16th-century character, including its rustic masonry, cloister, courtyard and terrace tower, illustrating the evolution of one of Erice's most important religious complexes.

The site itself has a much longer history. Archaeological discoveries suggest that this elevated part of Erice may once have accommodated the garrison responsible for guarding the nearby Temple of Venus Erycina. Among the finds was a Greek inscription commemorating the Roman victory at the Battle of Panormus in 250 BC, now preserved in the Cordici Museum