Catania

Wonderful quick decorations

A strike of colour leaves you breathless as you enter the church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) on Via dei Crociferi.
The paintings that decorate the interior have a timeless beauty.
The painter Giovanni Tuccari was commissioned to fresco the church. He completed the entire painting series in just three years (1726-1729). At the centre of the vault is the triumph of St. Benedict accompanied by his sister, St. Scholastica, and Pope Gregory I. At the sides, Tuccari completed the work and painted some scenes from the saint’s life: him welcoming St. Maurus and St. Placidus, two Benedictine saints, and on another, Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, a barbarian population, kneels before him.
To complete the decoration, there is a series of female figures above the windows, the allegories of virtues : the first is prudence, a woman depicted near a marble column, a symbol of fortress; followed by temperance, faith, hope and splendid charity, a woman nursing her own baby and two others.
The depictions are full of figures, so the spectator becomes part of the scene, overwhelmed by the events. This effect and ability to involve the observer is all down to the artist. Using a play on light and shadow, Giovanni Tuccari : bestows movement and vitality upon the scenes. At the same time this painting technique allowed him to work extremely quickly; he completed the work in just three years.

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A hall for the feasts

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The theatre of taste

The Baroque town by the sea

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

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Discovering the mother church

Between white and black

The Staircase of Angels

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, three sites

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The two churches

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

A prominent church

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A triumph of colour

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A feast only for Scicli

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

New roads for Catania

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

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

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

Norman apses

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Feast days

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

The chocolate of Modica

Some prestigious works

A symbol for the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

The interior and its masterpieces

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Many owners, one palace

A square as the heart of the city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A museum to save a tradition

A long reconstruction

The wall comes to life

The internal colours

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Two illustrious patron saints

A talking palace

Searching for colour

One city, two sites

Some masterpieces

Wonderful quick decorations

A small room with a golden entrance

A majestic and luminous church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new city

Prominent façade

A colourful floor

The church of Carmine

The colours of the cathedral

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

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

The disastrous earthquake

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

An eagle-shaped city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Feasting in Palazzolo