Caltagirone

A city in colour

In Caltagirone, traditional pottery production is linked to a thousand-year-old history dating back to ancient times.
According to the Italian archaeologist Paolo Orsi the production of maiolica preceded the arrival of the Arabs, but we know for sure that their arrival in the 9th century increased production, thanks to the introduction of a new technique – glazing – which made the pottery waterproof and more resistant.
A few centuries later, during the Spanish rule of Alfonso of Aragon, pottery trade had greatly developed and allowed artisans to sell their ceramics all over the island.
Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1693 interrupted the potters’ activity and destroyed many of the floors made with the maiolica of Caltagirone.
Today some of the fragments are preserved in the Museum of Ceramics.
foto facciata museo  dei vasi fuori il museo
After the earthquake, decorative motifs were replaced in order to make trade flourish again. In the 19th century, however, with the introduction of cement, the production of maiolica stopped.
The potters’ centuries-old activity ended when the last master potters disappeared in the 1930s.
In 1918 Don Luigi Sturzo founded the Istituto d’Arte della Ceramica (Institute of Ceramic Art) and saved a tradition that seemed destined to be lost. In 1965 the Museum of Ceramics was inaugurated, a safe place that preserved and protected a priceless cultural heritage.
foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Prominent façade

The Maiolica of the staircase

The wall comes to life

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A square as the heart of the city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The two churches

Norman apses

Some prestigious works

A talking palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The church of Carmine

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

One city, two sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A miniature city

The Baroque town by the sea

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Searching for colour

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

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Wonderful quick decorations

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A half-Baroque church

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The interior and its masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

A majestic and luminous church

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The theatre of taste

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A new site for a new church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

New roads for Catania

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

One city, three sites

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

Feast days

The chocolate of Modica

A museum to save a tradition

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A feast only for Scicli

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Feasting in Palazzolo

An eagle-shaped city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A small room with a golden entrance

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Many owners, one palace

A prominent church

A city in colour

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Between white and black

The city of museums

A colourful floor

A new site for a new city

The internal colours

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A long reconstruction

The disastrous earthquake

A hall for the feasts

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A triumph of colour

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

From International Gothic to present day

Two illustrious patron saints

A symbol for the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours