Militello in Val di Catania

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Inside the courtyard of the Barresi-Branciforte castle there is the Fontana della Zizza (Zizza Fountain), dating back to 1607, which is the final part of the water mains.
fontana zizza, frontale di insiemeThe rich family was a great promoter of public works. As a matter of fact, it was responsible for the construction of the aqueduct to channel the spring in the Zizza district to the castle, where the fountain is maintained and used freely by the community.
It was the first source of public drinking water in the town, an event of great importance at the time.
This work, attributed to Giandomenico Gagini , is located on a terraced wall and inserted in an aedicula with half columns, supported by corbels which frame the marble bas-relief of the girl Zizza, from whose breasts the water flows.

Foto fil di ferro Bassorilievo marmoreo della fanciulla Zizza
Bassorilievo marmoreo della fanciulla Zizza

The fountain is demarcated at the sides by two niches, each of which houses a lion’s head.
The work is preceded at the base by an octagonal basin in which a satyr’s mask stands out, decorating the wall that frames it.
leone satiro
The original bas-relief, restored in 2006, has been kept in the former Convent of St. Dominic since the 1990s due to weather degradation. Legend has it that the young Zizza, a shepherdess in love with Lembasi, was betrothed in an unwanted marriage, so she preferred to turn into a spring and her beloved turned into a stream.
The story, which was to convey the meaning of the fountain to citizens, was published in 1623 by Pietro Carrera, a historian and scholar who was part of the Branciforte court.

Art in the cathedral

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

City and nature

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Staircase of Angels

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

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

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

The Church of St. Paul

The new roads of the city

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The church and the monastery

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

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

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A heritage of votive works

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

St. Agatha and the candelore

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Religious architecture

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Palazzo dei due mori

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. Benedict

One city, three sites

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The church and the college

Luminous sacred spaces

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

The city palace

The eagle-shaped city

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Benedictines’ library

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The art of maiolica

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Franciscan convent

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The palace, the town, the church

The interior and works of art

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The city within the city

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The Church of St. Francis

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A stone garden

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The works in the church

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A casket of precious works

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

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

A story of rebirth

The interior of the church: space and colour