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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

A story of rebirth

The Church of St. Francis

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The works in the church

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Reconstruction after the earthquake

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

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The articulated interior spaces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Benedictines’ library

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Art in the cathedral

The city within the city

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Staircase of Angels

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

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

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The city palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The two churches

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the candelore

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

A heritage of votive works

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The eagle-shaped city

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

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

City and nature

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The interior and works of art

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

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The art of maiolica

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

A casket of precious works

One city, three sites

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The Church of St. Benedict

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The church and the college

The Franciscan convent

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The church and the monastery

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

A stone garden

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Paul

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

A unifying project for the city of Catania

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Religious architecture

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Luminous sacred spaces

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The expansion of space and changing reality

The new roads of the city

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration