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 chocolate of Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From International Gothic to present day

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

The interior and its masterpieces

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Wonderful quick decorations

A square as the heart of the city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

One city, two sites

The colours of the cathedral

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Burgos crucifix

Many owners, one palace

The city of museums

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A feast only for Scicli

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

The disastrous earthquake

A miniature city

Prominent façade

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Staircase of Angels

Discovering the mother church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A symbol for the town

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The wall comes to life

Connections with other UNESCO sites

An eagle-shaped city

The Maiolica of the staircase

A colourful floor

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

A triumph of colour

Between white and black

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

New roads for Catania

A prominent church

A city in colour

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

A museum to save a tradition

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

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Feast days

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A long reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

The internal colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

The two churches

Two illustrious patron saints

Some masterpieces

The church of Carmine

Some prestigious works

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The theatre of taste