The Flood of 1902
On the counter façade of the church is a plaque showing the water level reached when Modica was devastated during the disastrous flood of 1902. On the night of 25-26 September, due to heavy rain, the torrents of Modica swelled, flooding the countryside and roads. In particular, the Torrente Pozzo dei Pruni flooded behind the church with a water front of more than 11 metres and at a speed of 50 km/hour. The surrounding houses were swept away and the church was filled with water and mud to a height of 3.5 metres. The water penetrated through the side portal, which is now walled up and covered by the altar of St Francis; the old portal is visible from outside. Photographs document the extensive damage sustained in just twenty minutes by the flood, which killed 112 people throughout the city.
Inside the church, the monumental crib was saved because it was enclosed by wooden boards, but the collegiate archives (kept in the Palatine Chapel) were irretrievably lost. The intervention of the Italian State was immediate with the arrival of soldiers from the Royal Army who began the work of clearing the torrent. Of particular interest was the great national solidarity that was set in motion in the following days. The flood was the first well-documented disaster in Italian history. Charity collections were identified in all major Italian cities and in parishes and dioceses: Rome, Naples, Bologna, Turin, Modena, Milan. This solidarity enabled the reconstruction of Modica bassa in just two years, the creation of a new district called ‘Milano-Palermo’ that is still inhabited today, and the reconstruction of Santa Maria di Betlem.
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