Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

Scicli is one of the towns of the ancient County of Modica and is divided into three areas of interest, as described by the great Syracusan writer Elio Vittorini .
The town’s historical centre, included on the World Heritage List in 2002, is situated on the San Matteo hill and characterised by narrow, 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. The new township, a result of the earthquake of 1693, then extends along the Hyblaean plateau towards the sea.
In the mid-17th century Scicli had 11000 inhabitants and around forty churches, but the earthquake destroyed everything.
The most important church, San Matteo (St. Matthew), collapsed and many monasteries and convents suffered the same tragic fate.
Only a few buildings remained standing. What could be done? It was time to act. In this case they chose not to abandon Scicli, but to rebuild it. The town was extended around the oldest area. New civic and religious buildings were built such as the Palazzo Beneventano and the church of San Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist).
White limestone was used for the new buildings. A typical material of the area, it was easy to work and sculpt, and bestowed the landscape with a bright and brilliant appearance.
foto della città

A colourful floor

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The colours of the cathedral

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The façade used as a puppet theatre

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The disastrous earthquake

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new site for a new church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

A long reconstruction

Two illustrious patron saints

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

A prominent church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The theatre of taste

A city in colour

The Burgos crucifix

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Many owners, one palace

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A feast only for Scicli

A half-Baroque church

A miniature city

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The internal colours

A new site for a new city

A hall for the feasts

Some prestigious works

A majestic and luminous church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A museum to save a tradition

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Discovering the mother church

Prominent façade

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

An eagle-shaped city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The church of Carmine

The two churches

Between white and black

Feast days

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The chocolate of Modica

Searching for colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The city of museums

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The interior and its masterpieces

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Some masterpieces

Norman apses

A triumph of colour

One city, three sites

The wall comes to life

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

The Baroque town by the sea