Catania

The casket of austerity under the great dome

As you enter the church you are enveloped by an evocative golden light inside an elongated octagonal space, bordered by four chapels and four altars alternating along the axes of the church.
panoramica interno verso la volta
At the height of the trabeation on the first level, the characteristic swollen gratings at the bottom allowed the nuns to participate in liturgical celebrations without being seen.
Under the vestibule is the crypt , where the nuns are buried. The giant order of limestone pilasters covered with plaster is embellished with details in pure gold and stucco.
paraste altareThe eye, drawn upwards, is attracted to the majestic dome decorated with frescoes, dating back to 1842, by the Catanese painter Giuseppe Rapisardi .
The scene shows St. Beryl, the third patron saint of the city, receiving the task of founding the Church of Catania from St. Peter.
The ethereal and classic room is very different from the exuberant interiors of Sicilian Baroque.
The whiteness of the walls is interrupted by the precious polychrome marble of the floor and altars, in particular the high altar which stands out sumptuously in the apse .
The particular design of the 18th-century floor, created by Giovanni Battista Marino , consists of eight alternating segments decorated with arabesque motifs. The design converges into a central flower, tracing the Greek cross plan of the church, then extends to the chapels.
pavimento altare pavimento

The Church of St. Benedict

Religious architecture

The works in the church

City and nature

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

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

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

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

A heritage of votive works

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The articulated interior spaces

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The Franciscan convent

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

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The church and the college

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

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

The art of maiolica

The expansion of space and changing reality

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The church and the monastery

One city, three sites

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Palazzo dei due mori

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The two churches

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The city within the city

The Church of St. Francis

The palace, the town, the church

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The new roads of the city

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

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Staircase of Angels

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

A stone garden

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The Church of St. Paul

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Art in the cathedral

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

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A story of rebirth

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The city palace

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The interior and works of art

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

A casket of precious works

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele