Scicli

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Scicli is one of the towns of the former County of Modica and is divided into three areas of interest, as described by the great Syracusan writer Elio Vittorini foto della cittàThe historical centre of the town, included on the World Heritage List in 2002, is situated on the San Matteo hill, characterised by narrow and irregular streets that trace the medieval urban fabric.
The outermost areas near the “quarries” of San Bartolomeo and Santa Maria la Nova are also inhabited. These important sites prove the presence of settlements since the Copper Age.
foto della città
 strade medievaliThe newly built township, a result of the earthquake of 1693, then extends along the Hyblaean plateau towards the sea.
In the mid-17th century, before the earthquake, the city had 11,000 inhabitants and around forty churches dotted about the city.
The earthquake was so devastating that it even hit the main church of San Matteo (St. Matthew).
They chose not to abandon the city and rebuilt it on the same site, expanding the town around the oldest area.
A typical material of the area for its easy processing and bright white colour, limestone was used to build the scenic Baroque works of architecture that still retain all their splendour today.cava
scenografiche architetture in pietra calcarea,

The city within the city

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

A casket of precious works

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Religious architecture

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The interior and works of art

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

The Staircase of Angels

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The church and the monastery

Art in the cathedral

A story of rebirth

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

St. Agatha and the candelore

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Luminous sacred spaces

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The expansion of space and changing reality

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

City and nature

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Church of St. Paul

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

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

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Franciscan convent

The Church of St. Francis

A heritage of votive works

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The works in the church

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The palace, the town, the church

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The city palace

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A stone garden

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The articulated interior spaces

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The art of maiolica

The new roads of the city

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The two churches

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The eagle-shaped city

The church and the college

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin