Militello in Val di Catania

Discovering the mother church

foto scalinataThe entrance to the chiesa madre di San Nicolò e del Santissimo Salvatore (Mother Church of St. Nicholas and the Holy Saviour) is above street level and is accessed by two lateral staircases.
The façade is divided horizontally into three levels.
The first level includes the large central portal, inserted between two pairs of columns and closed off at the top by a tympanum with a broken arch. The two side doors, named “the sun” and “the moon”, are each surmounted by a window. The second level has a large window with a triangular tympanum. The third level is a broken arch tympanum that completes the façade, at the top of which there is a cross supported by a cherub ‘s head.
foto portaleAs for the internal structure of the church, it has a Latin cross plan, is divided into three naves and has five chapels on each side.
The decoration of the walls is simple and elegant; white is the predominant colour.
The frescoes in the vault and apse are the only aspects to break up the white. In 1950, Professor Giuseppe Barone painted and depicted scenes from the lives of St. Nicholas and the Holy Saviour.
foto interno chiesa ingresso altare navata centrale affreschi
The brightness is mainly given by the natural light from the windows under the trabeation that illuminate the entire nave.The area below the dome is also splendid, illuminated by a divine light from above.

Zoom la navata centrale
la navata centrale

The simple, white walls are contrasted by a floor that is anything but simple.
Made of grey and white Carrara marble, the precious material was laid in a chequered pattern.
foto della cupola dal basso
foto zoom pavimento

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

A new site for a new church

Feasting in Palazzolo

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Norman apses

The chocolate of Modica

A prominent church

The internal colours

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of Carmine

Some masterpieces

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Baroque town by the sea

Feast days

The Burgos crucifix

The city of museums

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A triumph of colour

One city, three sites

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

A feast only for Scicli

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The colours of the cathedral

Some prestigious works

A symbol for the town

A small room with a golden entrance

Between white and black

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

From International Gothic to present day

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

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Searching for colour

A new site for a new city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Two illustrious patron saints

Discovering the mother church

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

A museum to save a tradition

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Staircase of Angels

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A colourful floor

A long reconstruction

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The theatre of taste

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

A hall for the feasts

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

An eagle-shaped city

The interior and its masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

A miniature city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A city in colour

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

One city, two sites

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The disastrous earthquake

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A half-Baroque church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A talking palace

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

New roads for Catania

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano