Catania

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Located on the hill of Montevergine is one of the city’s largest complexes and the second largest monastic complex in Europe.
Benedictine monastery of Catania has a very long history marked by the passage of time (one testimony includes the remains of a Roman domus, or house), civilisations and natural disasters which have made it one of the most resistant and richest cultural sites on the entire island.
Founded by the monks of Cassino in the 16th century, when the west cloister was constructed, with the large Carrara marble fountain completed in 1608, most of the rooms were used for monastery life: the kitchens, the basement cellars, the monks’ cells over two floors, the refectory and the parlour. foto d'insiemeDuring the eruption of 1669 the monastery was hit by magma that surrounded the building: it burst through the walls and reached the first-storey windows.
Traces of the exceptional lava flow are still visible along the retaining walls, which were built specially to divert it. In 1693 the monastery was hit by the great earthquake and suffered serious damage.
The new design involved the construction of four large courtyards that would make it the largest in the world, but only two were completed: the cloister with the fountain and one in the east where the caffeaos (coffee house) was placed.

foto caffeaos foto Coffeaos da dentro la struttura
The structure was reminiscent of a gazebo, made with white stone featuring an interesting decoration in colourful maiolica with an abstract design.

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A colourful floor

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A feast only for Scicli

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Prominent façade

The colours of the cathedral

The internal colours

The chocolate of Modica

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A miniature city

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

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

Some prestigious works

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

Some masterpieces

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

The disastrous earthquake

A city in colour

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The city of museums

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Discovering the mother church

An eagle-shaped city

Between white and black

A square as the heart of the city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A long reconstruction

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Many owners, one palace

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Staircase of Angels

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feasting in Palazzolo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A prominent church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

Norman apses

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

A half-Baroque church

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

A hall for the feasts

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A museum to save a tradition

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

From International Gothic to present day

The Baroque town by the sea

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The interior and its masterpieces

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The two churches

A new site for a new city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Wonderful quick decorations

A small room with a golden entrance

One city, three sites

The Burgos crucifix

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Feast days

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