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.

A long reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The theatre of taste

A colourful floor

A majestic and luminous church

The Staircase of Angels

The Burgos crucifix

A feast only for Scicli

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

A hall for the feasts

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Many owners, one palace

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

A miniature city

A small room with a golden entrance

A square as the heart of the city

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

New roads for Catania

A half-Baroque church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of Carmine

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Between white and black

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Norman apses

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Discovering the mother church

A symbol for the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Maiolica of the staircase

Prominent façade

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A triumph of colour

The internal colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The colours of the cathedral

One city, two sites

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

A city in colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

One city, three sites

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new site for a new church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The chocolate of Modica

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A talking palace

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Some masterpieces

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

A prominent church

The Baroque town by the sea

Feast days