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.

Many owners, one palace

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Norman apses

A long reconstruction

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

A feast only for Scicli

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

One city, two sites

New roads for Catania

One city, three sites

The city of museums

The church of Carmine

The interior and its masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The chocolate of Modica

A symbol for the town

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A half-Baroque church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

A square as the heart of the city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Discovering the mother church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A talking palace

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

Prominent façade

The two churches

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A prominent church

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new site for a new city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The disastrous earthquake

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A city in colour

Between white and black

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Feast days

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Searching for colour

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some masterpieces

Feasting in Palazzolo

From International Gothic to present day

The wall comes to life

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Baroque town by the sea

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

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

The theatre of taste

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A triumph of colour

Two illustrious patron saints