Militello in Val di Catania

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

During the feudal dominion of the Barresi-Branciforti family, the town of Militello in Val di Catania featured prominently in the town’s commendable reconfiguration.
The prince Francesco Branciforte, once he had married Lady Joanna of Austria, the granddaughter of Charles V and cousin of the King of Spain, launched an urbanisation plan to redesign the small town to make it suitable for new cultural and delegation needs that a modern and such high-ranking court would require. The town’s transformations included one that involved the fortified castle, transformed into a palace and equipped in 1612 with a well-stocked library , a printing house and a sort of “alchemist’s” laboratory.
castello Barresi-Branciforte
A fountain was later built in the castle’s courtyard and was accessible to the population. This action aimed to underline the prince’s great focus on public works.
The square of the mother church was modernised in 1617 alongside the two main roads of the centre of Militello, which were widened and straightened. Connecting roads were also built outside the former perimeter walls, which encouraged the creation of new districts.
The powerful family was also a promoter of patronage that benefited civic religious life, thanks to funding for the reconstruction of the bell tower of the Mother Church of St. Nicholas and the extension of the Church of St. Mary, which was the burial place of the Barresi family as of the 16th century. In the 18th century the Branciforte family moved to Palermo but continued to own the fiefdom of Militello until the abolition of feudalism in 1812.

The Church of St. Francis

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

A stone garden

The Church of Madonna della Stella

One city, three sites

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Franciscan convent

The interior of the church: space and colour

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

A story of rebirth

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Benedictines’ library

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The works in the church

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The articulated interior spaces

The city palace

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Religious architecture

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Luminous sacred spaces

The two churches

The Palazzo dei due mori

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The interior and works of art

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Staircase of Angels

The city within the city

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The palace, the town, the church

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

A casket of precious works

The art of maiolica

Art in the cathedral

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

The church and the monastery

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The eagle-shaped city

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

City and nature

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The new roads of the city

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

The church and the college

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

A heritage of votive works