The 1693 earthquake destroyed the church and forced Bishop Riggio to order its reconstruction.
The first task was entrusted to the Capuchin friar Girolamo Palazzotto who began work in 1709, choosing to reuse the structures that had remained standing, i.e. the three Norman apses
and the transept.
In 1729, Palermo-born Pietro Galletti was appointed bishop, and decided to entrust the supervision of the work to the abbot architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini
.
Vaccarini made great changes to the façade and the side elevation on Via Vittorio Emanuele, where he inserted a portal from 1577 belonging to the previous destroyed church.
The design for the façade was highly criticised despite its obvious architectural qualities.
It was completed between 1730 and 1761, with the aim of adapting the building to the new Baroque style.
The architect designed a three-level elevation with vertical tension, with the image of St. Agatha in the centre inside a niche. Here, Baroque is expressed in all its grandeur: the trabeation
that divides the three levels “moves” angularly, breaking up around each capital, creating a movement and depth emphasised by the richness of the marble and the 14 granite columns detached from the façade.
The project was finally completed by Battaglia who built the dome, and in the 19th century the bell tower was rebuilt.
The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Maria del Monte
Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration
Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family
From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble
Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha
Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto
The dynamics of the Church of San Michele
The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio
Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines
A story of rebirth
Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral
The senses tell the Church of San Domenico
The new roads of the city
Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo
The senses tell the Church of San Michele
Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom
The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics
Virtuosity, decorations and altars
Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors
The works in the church
The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)
The two churches
The senses tell the story of the Church of the Badia di Sant’Agata
Reconstruction after the earthquake
The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum
The city palace
Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico
The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space
The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism
Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix
Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao
The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro
The church and the monastery
Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery
The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco
Art in the cathedral
Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto
Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town
The illusion of light and the decorative splendour
The Church of St. John the Evangelist
The Church of Madonna della Stella
The Staircase of Angels
The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio
The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena
The articulated interior spaces
The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto
The Church of St. Benedict
The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college
The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces
The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata
Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town
The Benedictines’ library
Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights
The casket of austerity under the great dome
The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)
A casket of precious works
The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition
The interior and works of art
The art of maiolica
The Franciscan convent
The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi
The palace, the town, the church
San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work
A unifying project for the city of Catania
Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city
A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque
The Church of St. Paul
The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi
The smallest Greek theatre in the world
The city within the city
The interior of the church: space and colour
Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century
Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape
St. Agatha and the candelore
City and nature
A Nobel Prize in Modica
A heritage of votive works
The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano
The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain
The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio
The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo
The church and the college
The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception
A stone garden
The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria
Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo
The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista
One city, three sites
Altars, saints and sculptural works
The expansion of space and changing reality
Religious architecture
Baroque creativity: recurring themes
The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty
The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque
Luminous sacred spaces
The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout
The eagle-shaped city
The Church of St. Francis
Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond
Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin
The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella
A new site for the church of San Giorgio
The Palazzo dei due mori
The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion
The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona
The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns
MiC – Ministero della Cultura
Legge 77/2006 - Misure Speciali di Tutela e Fruizione dei Siti Italiani di Interesse Culturale, Paesaggistico e Ambientale, inseriti nella “Lista Del Patrimonio Mondiale”, posti sotto la Tutela dell’ UNESCO Regione Siciliana.
Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana.
Parco archeologico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento.