Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

Scicli is one of the towns of the ancient County of Modica and is divided into three areas of interest, as described by the great Syracusan writer Elio Vittorini .
The town’s historical centre, included on the World Heritage List in 2002, is situated on the San Matteo hill and characterised by narrow, irregular streets that trace the medieval urban fabric.
The outermost areas near the “quarries” of San Bartolomeo and Santa Maria la Nova are also inhabited.
These important sites prove the presence of settlements since the Copper Age. The new township, a result of the earthquake of 1693, then extends along the Hyblaean plateau towards the sea.
In the mid-17th century Scicli had 11000 inhabitants and around forty churches, but the earthquake destroyed everything.
The most important church, San Matteo (St. Matthew), collapsed and many monasteries and convents suffered the same tragic fate.
Only a few buildings remained standing. What could be done? It was time to act. In this case they chose not to abandon Scicli, but to rebuild it. The town was extended around the oldest area. New civic and religious buildings were built such as the Palazzo Beneventano and the church of San Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist).
White limestone was used for the new buildings. A typical material of the area, it was easy to work and sculpt, and bestowed the landscape with a bright and brilliant appearance.
foto della città

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Staircase of Angels

A long reconstruction

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

Some prestigious works

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Two illustrious patron saints

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The city of museums

The colours of the cathedral

A talking palace

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The disastrous earthquake

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Norman apses

Limestone, the colour of harmony

One city, three sites

Between white and black

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Feast days

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Burgos crucifix

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The internal colours

A majestic and luminous church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new site for a new church

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

The theatre of taste

The church of Carmine

The Baroque town by the sea

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

The interior and its masterpieces

Searching for colour

A small room with a golden entrance

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A museum to save a tradition

Many owners, one palace

One city, two sites

Prominent façade

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A city in colour

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A colourful floor

The chocolate of Modica

A symbol for the town

A square as the heart of the city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Feasting in Palazzolo

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Wonderful quick decorations

A hall for the feasts

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some masterpieces

From International Gothic to present day

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A prominent church

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

A new site for a new city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Discovering the mother church

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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