Caltagirone

An eagle-shaped city

Caltagirone boasts very ancient origins: the first settlements date back to the Neolithic Age.
Its strategic position high up in the hills brought the town centuries-long fortune.foto panoramica della città
Situated in the fertile plain between the Hyblaean and Erean Mountains, the Normans passed through Caltagirone and the Greeks and Romans before them. It has always been a very active city, with the work to renew not a consequence of the earthquake, but beginning much earlier.
Two main roads were built, one connecting the area of San Giorgio with San Giacomo and the other connecting the main church to the southern quarter.
The extraordinary Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte (Staircase of St. Mary of the Mountain) was built during this new road organisation, which included a plan of streets at right angles.
Foto drone cittàWhen seen from above, the town’s new layout was shaped like an eagle: the old quarter of the castle was its head, the quarters of San Giacomo and San Giorgio its wings, and the quarter of San Francesco its tail.
After the earthquake of 1693 Caltagirone was rebuilt on the same site and the previous road layout maintained. The city was enriched with splendid buildings and new architecture in blatant Baroque style, such as the church of Santa Chiara (St. Claire).

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The wall comes to life

The Staircase of Angels

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

One city, three sites

The colours of the cathedral

Discovering the mother church

The city of museums

The chocolate of Modica

Many owners, one palace

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A museum to save a tradition

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

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

Prominent façade

Feast days

A half-Baroque church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A small room with a golden entrance

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A talking palace

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

A miniature city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A square as the heart of the city

The theatre of taste

The internal colours

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

Some prestigious works

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

The two churches

A symbol for the town

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A colourful floor

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Norman apses

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

From International Gothic to present day

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A majestic and luminous church

Some masterpieces

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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 Santa Maria del Carmelo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A hall for the feasts

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A feast only for Scicli

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

An eagle-shaped city

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A long reconstruction

The Maiolica of the staircase

Two illustrious patron saints

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A city in colour

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

A prominent church

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

A triumph of colour

Between white and black

The Burgos crucifix