Caltagirone

The art of maiolica

One of the most ancient art forms of Caltagirone is the production of ceramics, a thousand-year-old history of wisdom and tradition. The discoveries of archaeologist Paolo Orsi prove that the production of maiolica predates the Islamic rule. museo della ceramicaIn fact, it was already popular in the territory before the arrival of the Arabs, who gave a renewed boost to production thanks to a new technique – glazing – that made the pottery more waterproof and resistant.
Under the Spanish rule of Alfonso of Aragon, the pottery trade intensified even more thanks to his tax privileges, which allowed workers to increase their production and sales throughout the island.
With the earthquake of 1693 many of the maiolica floors were destroyed and the artisans’ activity was interrupted. Some of the most valuable fragments are kept in the Regional Museum of Ceramics .
After the earthquake an attempt was made to make trade flourish again. The decorative motifs were renewed by expanding the designs on the entire floor so that they were no longer on a single maiolica tile.
ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo
Production was interrupted in the 1800s due to the use of cement and the centuries-old activity of ceramists ended, for a certain period, when the last masters disappeared in the 1930s.
The tradition, which seemed destined to be lost, was saved by Don Luigi Sturzo who founded the Istituto d’Arte della Ceramica (Institute of Ceramic Art) in 1918, giving renewed impetus to the art of maiolica. One of the best-known examples throughout history of the maiolica process is the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte (Staircase of St. Mary of the Mountain).

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The two churches

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

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Religious architecture

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The interior of the church: space and colour

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The Staircase of Angels

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

The Church of St. Francis

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

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

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

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The articulated interior spaces

The eagle-shaped city

A heritage of votive works

The city within the city

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

St. Agatha and the candelore

Art in the cathedral

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The Palazzo dei due mori

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A story of rebirth

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Luminous sacred spaces

The church and the college

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The works in the church

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The Church of St. Paul

The new roads of the city

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Benedictines’ library

The Franciscan convent

City and nature

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The palace, the town, the church

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The city palace

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A casket of precious works

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The church and the monastery

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The expansion of space and changing reality

One city, three sites

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A stone garden

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The art of maiolica

The interior and works of art

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Church of St. Benedict

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes