Santa Maria La Nova is a Baroque-style church in Scicli. A church at the site, dedicated to Santa Maria della Pietà, was present by the 6th-7th centuries. This church was destroyed during the Norman conquest. Reconstruction under the sponsorship of the Confraternity of the same name was funded by Pietro Di Lorenzo Busacca that, doing the will in 1567. The rebuilt church was then destroyed by the 1693 earthquake.
Like most other churches in town, it has a facade with three orders, divided into three compartments by pilasters, two Ionic and one Corinthian. The third story links to a belltower with a stone balustrade. The original designer was Giovanni Venancio Marvuglia, but his work was carried out by Cardona, with the interior stucco decoration completed in 1801 by Emanuele and Domenico Ruiz. The nave is flanked by three chapels on each side with a dome at the crossing. The upper story and vaults of the nave were begun in 1817 and the stuccoes not completed until 1851 by Gianforma. The church was reconsecrated in 1857.
References:Herceg Novi was founded (on a former small fishing village, existing since Roman Empire times) as a fortress in 1382 by first Bosnian King Stjepan Tvrtko I and was called Sveti Stefan or Castelnuovo. The Turks conquered Herceg Novi in 1482, and ruled for 200 years, until 1687. However, there was a short pause between 1538 and 1539 when it was held by the Spaniards before they were defeated in the Siege of Castelnuovo. Turkey ruled again until 1687, from then until 1797, the town was ruled by the Venetian Republic.
The Herceg Novi old town is amazing. It is on a fairly steep hill that leads all the way down to the sea. Wandering through the small stairways to the various plazas and fortresses is a many hour adventure.