Catania

A small room with a golden entrance

La cappella di Sant'Agata (St. Agatha) è uno dei luoghi più amati dai catanesi: situata nell’ Apse destro della cattedrale, fu voluta dal viceré Ferdinando d'Acuňa , ma, dopo la sua morte, della costruzione si occupò la moglie Maria d’Avila.
 
I lavori iniziarono nel 1495, a cura dello scultore Antonello Freri da Messina, e il risultato è ancora oggi visibile, un trionfo di luci e colori.
Per la pavimentazione si scelsero marmi di varie tinte: nero, bianco, grigio, rosso; per le pareti sono le sculture a dare vitalità ai muri, ulteriormente arricchite nelle parti più alte da meravigliosi affreschi.
Tutta questa luminosità, data anche e soprattutto dall’uso dell’oro, contrasta con la cancellata in ferro battuto che divide la cappella dal resto della chiesa.
foto alla cappella nel suo insieme
L’interno presenta una splendida decorazione dietro l’altare dove si alternano tra le sculture il bianco e l’oro. A catturare l’attenzione è il retablo .
Posto dietro l’altare, esso è una scultura con al centro la glorificazione di Sant’Agata che viene presentata a Cristo dalla Vergine, a destra e sinistra, rispettivamente, San Paolo e San Pietro, e in alto chiudono la composizione i quattro evangelisti: San Marco, San Luca, San Matteo e San Giovanni.

Zoom Retablo
retablo

A destra dell’altare, si trova il monumento sepolcrale di Ferdinando d’Acuňa, a sinistra, una cancellata dorata invece nasconde la “cammaredda”: una stanza di piccole dimensioni dove, in brillanti scrigni d’argento, si conservano le reliquie di Sant’Agata.

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Prominent façade

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A symbol for the town

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

New roads for Catania

The Burgos crucifix

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A half-Baroque church

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A city in colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A small room with a golden entrance

The Baroque town by the sea

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A majestic and luminous church

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The internal colours

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

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The two churches

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

St. Sebastian, so much work!

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A prominent church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The church of Carmine

A feast only for Scicli

A colourful floor

From International Gothic to present day

A talking palace

The Maiolica of the staircase

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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 long reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The colours of the cathedral

Norman apses

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

An eagle-shaped city

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

A miniature city

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A triumph of colour

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Some masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some prestigious works

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A hall for the feasts

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

Between white and black

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A square as the heart of the city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

The city of museums

A museum to save a tradition

One city, two sites

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The interior and its masterpieces

The disastrous earthquake

Feasting in Palazzolo

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new site for a new city