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,

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The works in the church

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

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

One city, three sites

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Francis

City and nature

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The interior and works of art

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The two churches

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

The art of maiolica

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The articulated interior spaces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of St. Paul

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The city within the city

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The new roads of the city

The palace, the town, the church

The eagle-shaped city

A heritage of votive works

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Luminous sacred spaces

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The church and the college

The city palace

The Franciscan convent

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The interior of the church: space and colour

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The church and the monastery

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

A story of rebirth

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A stone garden

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

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

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Art in the cathedral

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

A casket of precious works

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The Benedictines’ library

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Religious architecture

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The Staircase of Angels