Palazzolo Acreide

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

sight
Infinite lights and colours

How wonderful!
The light and colours inside the church of San Sebastiano leave everyone breathless!
The crystal chandeliers shine and the surfaces around them reflect and light up in turn.
The marble columns shine and the blue, green and yellow stained glass windows filter warm rays of sunshine.
Full of colour, the church interior is tinged with black and white from the floor, accompanied by the yellow and light grey of the columns, and the white and gold of the walls. navata laterale lampadari accesi

hearing
21 cannon shots

The feast of San Sebastiano is an important moment for all worshippers and the whole country. Citizens gather together to honour the patron saint.
Every year on 10th August at 8:15 am, twenty-one cannon shots precede the departure of the bread cart, accompanied by music, for the traditional collection of “cuddure” (ring-shaped biscuits), offered to St. Sebastian.
Loud noises, firecrackers, music, voices and shouting can be heard early in the morning.

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Between white and black

The church of Carmine

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Staircase of Angels

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Some masterpieces

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

One city, three sites

Prominent façade

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Searching for colour

The disastrous earthquake

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new site for a new city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Feast days

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

New roads for Catania

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

A feast only for Scicli

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The chocolate of Modica

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The colours of the cathedral

Two illustrious patron saints

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

The theatre of taste

A miniature city

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A half-Baroque church

Discovering the mother church

The Maiolica of the staircase

A square as the heart of the city

A talking palace

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

A museum to save a tradition

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Wonderful quick decorations

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The interior and its masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A prominent church

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new church

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Norman apses

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Many owners, one palace

A symbol for the town

The two churches

A triumph of colour

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Burgos crucifix

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista