The church of St. Domenico, also known as “Rosario” (1678), and the adjacent Dominican convent date back to 1461. The statement is one of the few remaining intact after the earthquake of 1693. The sacred place is full of interesting paintings of the sixteenth century, and has a chapel, which was once reserved for the prayers of the monks, richly decorated with mural paintings and fine plasters. The monastery has been home to the Town Hall, since 1869, although archival documents show that the assembly of the Jury (as they were then called councilors) gathered here already in 1626. The lobby openx to an interesting underground crypt (from the seventeenth century), which was discovered by Giovanni Modica Scala in the mid twentieth century, and which contains bones attributable to the Dominican monks themselves, and that also reveal traces of frescoes. The convent was home, for the Diocese of Syracuse, the Inquisition, and the Holy Office.