Catania

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Catania is one of the cities located in eastern Sicily that overlooks the Ionian Sea and extends to the slopes of Mount Etna.
Etna Catania
The volcano is the symbol of the Etnean capital, though over the centuries its constant activity has been the cause of ruinous events such as the catastrophic eruption of 1669, traces of which are still visible along the streets, and more clearly in the Benedictine monastery.
In 1693 the city was struck by a disastrous earthquake and razed to the ground.
Reconstruction took place on the same site given the strategic position for trade between the coast and further inland. Where possible, the pre-existing buildings were restored, including the fortifications, apses and transept of the Norman Cathedral and some ancient buildings.
The city’s reaction to the earthquake was characterised by the great commitment of the Spanish ruling class, the state and religious authorities who demonstrated a remarkable capacity for organisation and foresight.
Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra was appointed by the Viceroy Duke of Uzeda as vicar general and quickly implemented the plan to rebuild Catania as soon as 1694. This “plan” was conceived in a unitary fashion, set on a system of roads that were orthogonal and no longer exclusively rigid. Within the system were a series of wide streets and squares that were geometrically different from one another.

The church and the college

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The expansion of space and changing reality

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Staircase of Angels

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Luminous sacred spaces

A unifying project for the city of Catania

A stone garden

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Art in the cathedral

The city within the city

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

A casket of precious works

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Franciscan convent

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The two churches

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The interior and works of art

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The palace, the town, the church

The works in the church

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

One city, three sites

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A story of rebirth

The Palazzo dei due mori

The church and the monastery

City and nature

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The new roads of the city

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The art of maiolica

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Religious architecture

The eagle-shaped city

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The articulated interior spaces

The Church of St. Francis

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

The city palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Church of St. Benedict

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The Church of St. Paul

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

St. Agatha and the candelore

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

A heritage of votive works

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics