Caltagirone

A museum to save a tradition

In 1965, the Museum of Ceramics was founded in order to save a centuries-old tradition. Located on one of the main streets, Via Roma, the location was refurbished before the inauguration.
It has a special entrance, a 19th-century portico that rests on a tall raised structure accessed by a series of staircases. The maiolica decorations make it extra special, embellishing and adding colour to the façade.
The museum contains pottery from the Greek age until the beginning of the 20th century, including collections of Arab, Norman, Suevian and Aragonese artefacts.

foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo

foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo
The pottery is exhibited in four large rooms, where there are around 2500 artefacts and work from the ancient, medieval, post-medieval and modern worlds. The collections mostly come from the Civic Museum of Caltagirone and the “ Luigi Sturzo “, State Institute of Art for Ceramics, but also from other Sicilian museums such as the Russo-Perez collection or from private collectors including Professor Antonino Ragona.

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A hall for the feasts

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new church

The theatre of taste

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Prominent façade

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The wall comes to life

A square as the heart of the city

The disastrous earthquake

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A long reconstruction

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

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

A new site for a new city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A colourful floor

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

A miniature city

A symbol for the town

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The chocolate of Modica

A feast only for Scicli

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Feast days

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A triumph of colour

An eagle-shaped city

A museum to save a tradition

The internal colours

Feasting in Palazzolo

One city, two sites

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

One city, three sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Discovering the mother church

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The colours of the cathedral

Between white and black

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Burgos crucifix

Some prestigious works

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The church of Carmine

The two churches

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A majestic and luminous church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Two illustrious patron saints

New roads for Catania

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

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

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A talking palace

Norman apses

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Many owners, one palace

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A city in colour

The city of museums

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A prominent church