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 senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Baroque town by the sea

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

A new site for a new city

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

A half-Baroque church

A long reconstruction

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

An eagle-shaped city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A feast only for Scicli

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A museum to save a tradition

A hall for the feasts

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

One city, two sites

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

New roads for Catania

A miniature city

The Burgos crucifix

The city of museums

Searching for colour

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A colourful floor

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

Between white and black

The two churches

From International Gothic to present day

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Discovering the mother church

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

The colours of the cathedral

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Maiolica of the staircase

The façade used as a puppet theatre

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Staircase of Angels

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church of Carmine

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

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

Many owners, one palace

Feast days

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some prestigious works

The chocolate of Modica

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The wall comes to life

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A symbol for the town

One city, three sites

A triumph of colour

Prominent façade

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Two illustrious patron saints

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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