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.

Feast days

Some masterpieces

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

One city, two sites

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

Two illustrious patron saints

A half-Baroque church

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

The colours of the cathedral

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The theatre of taste

A new site for a new church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A colourful floor

Feasting in Palazzolo

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A small room with a golden entrance

The internal colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

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

The disastrous earthquake

The city of museums

Some prestigious works

Wonderful quick decorations

Discovering the mother church

An eagle-shaped city

One city, three sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A city in colour

A symbol for the town

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From International Gothic to present day

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A prominent church

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A new site for a new city

A feast only for Scicli

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A triumph of colour

New roads for Catania

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A museum to save a tradition

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Maiolica of the staircase

The chocolate of Modica

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

Prominent façade

The Baroque town by the sea

Between white and black

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The two churches

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Searching for colour

A square as the heart of the city

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A hall for the feasts

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A long reconstruction

The wall comes to life

Norman apses

Many owners, one palace

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The church of Carmine

The Staircase of Angels

A talking palace