Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Badia di Sant'Agata (Abbey of St. Agatha) is located a few metres from Piazza Duomo. It was rebuilt after the tragic earthquake of 1693 by architect Giovan Battista Vaccarini .
The structure is formed of the Abbey and the monastery, founded in the early 1600s thanks to a generous donation from an aristocrat.
Reconstruction began in 1736, soon giving rise to a splendid building.
Vaccarini designed a grand structure in the shape of a cube, on top of which rests a large dome.
foto prospetto foto dettaglio cupola
Its grandeur and importance attract the attention of passers-by on Via Vittorio Emanuele. The architect created a colourful façade, with the base in grey lava stone and the rest in white limestone.
Vaccarini built a façade that seems to sway back and forth in an undulating movement. The central part is convex and the lateral areas are concave. The façade is a perfect example of Baroque style. The undulating effect is also created by the trabeation that alternates between curved and straight lines.

Zoom Facciata della Badia di Sant' Agata
Facciata della Badia di Sant' Agata

foto dettaglio trabeazione facciataFrom Via Vittorio Emanuele you can see the dome in all its immense beauty. The dome rests on an octagonal base made of lava and limestone, onto which open large windows that illuminate the interior. Another interesting and yet unusual element is the balustrade above the building. It runs along the entire perimeter of the roof.

The Badia di Sant'Agata
The Badia di Sant’Agata is 40 metres from Piazza Duomo. The architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini designed a large cube-shaped structure on which the dome rests. The facade has the base is in gray lava stone and the rest is in white limestone. Vaccarini builds a facade that seems to move back and forth with a wavy movement. The central part is convex, the side ones are concave. The plan of the church is a Greek cross. When you enter you pass from a small room to a large circular space, where white is the main color. To the white is added the yellow of the marble altars of Castronovo. There are four altars placed in four large niches. Each altar has a statue placed on it. They were made by Giovan Battista Marino and clockwise from the entrance there are: San Benedetto, l’Immacolata, San Giuseppe, Sant’Euplio.
A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A majestic and luminous church

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The theatre of taste

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A square as the heart of the city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

An eagle-shaped city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Staircase of Angels

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The disastrous earthquake

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Prominent façade

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A half-Baroque church

The city of museums

A new site for a new city

The Maiolica of the staircase

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From International Gothic to present day

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A colourful floor

A hall for the feasts

Many owners, one palace

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Discovering the mother church

A miniature city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Norman apses

Feast days

Searching for colour

One city, three sites

A museum to save a tradition

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

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

A new site for a new church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Between white and black

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

A talking palace

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

A triumph of colour

The internal colours

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A symbol for the town

The wall comes to life

The interior and its masterpieces

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

New roads for Catania

Two illustrious patron saints

A prominent church

Some masterpieces

Some prestigious works

A long reconstruction

One city, two sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Burgos crucifix

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A city in colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The church of Carmine