Catania

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

Located in the historic centre of Catania, the church of San Nicolò l’Arena, the spiritual heart of the monastic complex, appears as a majestic unfinished backdrop within the scenic exedra of Piazza Dante.
facciata chiesa piazza Dante facciata chiesa piazza Dante
It was built after the eruption of Etna in 1669, replacing an older building from the Renaissance period located further south than the original site. Reconstruction of the new church began in 1687 according to the design of the architect Giovanni Battista Contini .
After the earthquake of 1693, a little less than a century later, in 1774 the construction of the façade was begun by the architect Carmelo Battaglia Santangelo , later left unfinished in 1802 by his cousin Antonino Battaglia.
The façade is striking for the giant proportions of the eight columns, which flank the main and side portals. The large rectangular windows and the two oval openings above the portals lighten the heavy mass of the façade. What is most surprising is the strong contrast between the fixed and mighty incompleteness of the exterior and the vibrant spatiality inside the naves which manifests in a truly unique play of perspective and light.
In fact, as you enter the church, one glance is enough to admire the entire immense area, the progression of the arcades and the vaults in line with the main altar. The volumes are enveloped in a diffuse luminosity enhanced by the near absence of sacred furnishings, and inside there are valuable works the precious organ and the splendid sundial .
The church is dominated by the majestic dome designed by the architect Stefano Ittar in 1780, which, with its large windows creates plays of light that reflect between the naves, altar and precious floor of colourful marble.
interno, centrando l'altare  organo  gnomone sulla volta

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

The art of maiolica

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

The Church of St. Benedict

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Luminous sacred spaces

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

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

A casket of precious works

The palace, the town, the church

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The interior of the church: space and colour

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. Francis

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

A heritage of votive works

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The church and the college

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

One city, three sites

The Benedictines’ library

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

City and nature

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

The works in the church

The Franciscan convent

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Church of St. Paul

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The interior and works of art

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Reconstruction after the earthquake

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Religious architecture

The Staircase of Angels

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

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

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The new roads of the city

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The city within the city

St. Agatha and the candelore

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

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

The two churches

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

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

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The city palace

Art in the cathedral

A story of rebirth

The articulated interior spaces

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

A stone garden

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors