Modica

The church of Carmine

The church of Santa Maria del Carmelo (St. Mary of Carmel) is located in Piazza Giacomo Matteotti in the old town. The church was part of a large, wide convent built according to some sources in the mid-13th century, and according to others around the mid-14th century.
Certainly, by the mid-15th century the convent was built and operational because the conference of the entire province of Sicily was held there. The 1693 earthquake damaged the complex, but the church escaped unscathed.
Many Santa Maria del Carmelo structures were saved and the religious building retained the original features of Gothic architecture.

La chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmelo è situata in piazza Giacomo Matteotti. L’ingresso alla chiesa è preceduto da un piccolo cortile chiuso dalla inferiate. Tutta la parte bassa della facciata conserva ancora gli elementi medievali: il rosone, uno dei pochi interi che si conservano in Sicilia; il portale d’accesso ad arco a sesto acuto e parte del campanile con le feritorie. A chiudere la facciata si trovano le aggiunte in stile barocco, post terremoto; si tratta della parte che comprende: la nicchia con la statua al centro e le due finestre ai lati. La nicchia ha un timpano spezzato al centro le finestre hanno timpano semicircolare.
Chiesa del Carmine
La chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmelo è situata in piazza Giacomo Matteotti. L’ingresso alla chiesa è preceduto da un piccolo cortile chiuso dalla inferiate. Tutta la parte bassa della facciata conserva ancora gli elementi medievali: il rosone, uno dei pochi interi che si conservano in Sicilia; il portale d’accesso ad arco a sesto acuto e parte del campanile con le feritorie. A chiudere la facciata si trovano le aggiunte in stile barocco, post terremoto; si tratta della parte che comprende: la nicchia con la statua al centro e le due finestre ai lati. La nicchia ha un timpano spezzato al centro le finestre hanno timpano semicircolare.

In fact, the entire lower part of the façade still retains medieval elements such as the rose window , the ogival arch entrance portal and part of the bell tower with embrasures .

zoom il portale d’accesso ad arco a sesto acuto
il portale d’accesso ad arco a sesto acuto

The façade is completed by Baroque-style additions made following the earthquake: the two windows, the bell tower and the niche completed at the top by a broken tympanum and a statue in the middle.

zoom Campanile
Campanile

The entrance to the church is preceded by a small courtyard enclosed by iron grating. It was also recently discovered that the nave , as the church appears today, was built after the earthquake.

dettaglio rosone  Nicchia con statua sopra il rosone

Prominent façade

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The internal colours

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The chocolate of Modica

Between white and black

From International Gothic to present day

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A museum to save a tradition

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

An eagle-shaped city

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A new site for a new city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The church of Carmine

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Norman apses

Feast days

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The disastrous earthquake

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

Two illustrious patron saints

The Staircase of Angels

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, three sites

A small room with a golden entrance

A hall for the feasts

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, two sites

The theatre of taste

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A new site for a new church

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A talking palace

St. Sebastian, so much work!

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

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

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

A prominent church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A colourful floor

Some masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The wall comes to life

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Searching for colour

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Burgos crucifix

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Discovering the mother church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

New roads for Catania

A symbol for the town

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The two churches

A miniature city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A feast only for Scicli

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

A square as the heart of the city

A majestic and luminous church

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe