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 story of the Church of San Benedetto

The theatre of taste

The interior and its masterpieces

One city, two sites

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A feast only for Scicli

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The two churches

A prominent church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Prominent façade

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

The wall comes to life

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

One city, three sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Baroque town by the sea

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

Some prestigious works

Discovering the mother church

A colourful floor

A small room with a golden entrance

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Burgos crucifix

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The colours of the cathedral

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

From International Gothic to present day

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Some masterpieces

A museum to save a tradition

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Between white and black

Feast days

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The chocolate of Modica

Two illustrious patron saints

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The city of museums

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Wonderful quick decorations

An eagle-shaped city

The church of Carmine

A long reconstruction

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new church

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

The internal colours

Many owners, one palace

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Maiolica of the staircase

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A symbol for the town

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A hall for the feasts

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

A triumph of colour

A city in colour

Norman apses

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph