Caltagirone

The Church of St. Francis

Across the bridge of San Francesco, on the square of the same name, stands the majestic church of San Francesco D’Assisi all’Immacolata. The original building was built in 1236 by Beato Riccardo, one of the most devout followers of St. Francis, then enlarged a few centuries later under the supervision of Father Gerardo Arcolaci.
The church was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, after which it was rebuilt in 1724 in Baroque style, and is preceded by a winding staircase. Some Gothic-style remains of the original structure, characterised by the finish of the local sandstone used in that period, are located in the rooms adjacent to the sacristy and the portal in the cloister.
In 1727, the works were revised by the architects Tommaso Amato and Francesco Battaglia , who changed the majestic Baroque stone façade, taking inspiration from examples from Palermo , making it one of the most interesting façades in Caltagirone.
chiesa san francesco facciata
Divided into two levels and marked by staggered columns that accentuate the contrasts of light and shadow, it had four niches with Franciscan saints placed in the lateral sections.
These were replaced with four Marian symbols distributed on “ large boards “, as if to frame the central niche with the statue of the Immaculate Conception. In 1807, a small apse with a small dome was built on the right side of the façade.
tabelloni in ordine di descrizione e zoo tabelloni in ordine di descrizione

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Church of St. Francis

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

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

The interior and works of art

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

Art in the cathedral

St. Agatha and the candelore

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The city within the city

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Franciscan convent

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

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The articulated interior spaces

The Palazzo dei due mori

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

A casket of precious works

The expansion of space and changing reality

One city, three sites

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The palace, the town, the church

The Staircase of Angels

A story of rebirth

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The new roads of the city

The art of maiolica

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

The Church of St. Paul

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The city palace

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

The eagle-shaped city

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The two churches

A stone garden

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

The Church of St. Benedict

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

City and nature

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Religious architecture

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Reconstruction after the earthquake

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

The works in the church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The church and the college

The interior of the church: space and colour