Catania

New roads for Catania

A geometric model was envisaged for the reconstruction and reorganisation of the streets of Catania, formed of streets with right angle intersections, extending around Piazza Duomo.
The four main roads (Via Etnea, Via Sangiuliano, Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi) were designed in this sense.
The former Via Uzeda, now Via Etnea, was designed with the idea of straightening the old Via La Luminaria and creating a long straight road starting from Piazza Duomo.
panorama piazza duomo catania Via Etnea
It was designed to intersect with Via Sangiuliano, which still links the Montevergine district to the sea, and with which it forms the Quattro Canti “.
Via San Giuliano  4 canti con Via Etnea
The other two roads that were built are the current Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, which today link Piazza Duomo with the old city and Piazza Duomo with Porta Garibaldi respectively.
Via Vittorio Emanuele Via Garibaldi

Via Crociferi was added and completed the city’s new road network, and is where some of the most beautiful churches in Catania were built. It was in these streets that the writer Giovanni Verga  set many of his novels. Some examples include Storia di una capinera (Story of a Blackcap), Una Peccatrice (A Sinner) and I Malavoglia (The Reluctance).
The new road layout brought great advantages to the city of Catania; it made it easier to move around and thus made it possible to create vast spaces where citizens could rush to safety in an earthquake. Reconstruction work was started by groups of workers from Calabria and the area around Etna, experts in the removal of lava stone  blocks.

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A majestic and luminous church

The interior and its masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

The church of Carmine

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The theatre of taste

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The disastrous earthquake

Discovering the mother church

The colours of the cathedral

A prominent church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new church

The Baroque town by the sea

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Many owners, one palace

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Staircase of Angels

The chocolate of Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A long reconstruction

Some prestigious works

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The city of museums

Feast days

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

An eagle-shaped city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Searching for colour

A new site for a new city

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

One city, three sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A feast only for Scicli

The two churches

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Some masterpieces

Prominent façade

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

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

From International Gothic to present day

The wall comes to life

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Burgos crucifix

A half-Baroque church

New roads for Catania

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The internal colours

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A hall for the feasts

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

Two illustrious patron saints

A square as the heart of the city

One city, two sites

The Maiolica of the staircase

A small room with a golden entrance

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A colourful floor

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

A museum to save a tradition

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