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.

Some masterpieces

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Feast days

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Prominent façade

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A feast only for Scicli

Many owners, one palace

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Some prestigious works

A new site for a new city

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

The wall comes to life

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, three sites

The Burgos crucifix

The colours of the cathedral

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A talking palace

A half-Baroque church

An eagle-shaped city

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A miniature city

A triumph of colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new site for a new church

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Between white and black

The theatre of taste

A colourful floor

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

Norman apses

The two churches

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The interior and its masterpieces

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The internal colours

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A majestic and luminous church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A prominent church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A city in colour

A square as the heart of the city

A hall for the feasts

A small room with a golden entrance

The disastrous earthquake

From International Gothic to present day

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

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

The Baroque town by the sea

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Wonderful quick decorations

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Staircase of Angels

A long reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

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

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A symbol for the town

The church of Carmine

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Two illustrious patron saints

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

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara