Caltagirone

The cloister of St. Francis

The convent’s cloister is the place around which the life of the friars was organised.
frontale arcate, finestre e pozzoSpecifically, the cloister of St. Francis reflects the spirit of poverty of the family of mendicant friars in its sober and rigorous appearance.
After suffering the disastrous earthquake of 1693 and the bombardments of 1943, it was rebuilt according to the Late Renaissance style of the time, recognisable in the essential lines of the interior elevations, outlined by sixteen windows and four balconies, framed by Ionic pilasters , which overlook the square space.
The area is marked by twenty-four monolithic columns whose purity of lines is interrupted only at the arcades, decorated with grotesque masks in the centre of the arch. The arcades are one of the few elements that create a pattern inside the cloister, giving multiple perspectives.
colonne Del chiostro balcone centrale
paraste nel chiostro
The essential nature is also found in the sober use of materials such as stone for the arcades and columns, and in the decorative details arranged on the wall made with a neutral coloured plaster.
Inside, there is a stone well and a lush green lawn with four palm trees, planted during the 1937 restoration.
This space steeped in history has two entrances: a more modern one, in a floral style, which dates back to the 20th century, with the commissioner’s coat of arms. The other, older one is located near the chapel and has the Franciscan emblem in the lunette.
stemma francescano emblema committenza
The cloister reveals the few traces of the medieval convent with its ogival stone portal, which, unfortunately was remodelled at the top with the insertion of an elliptical window in Late Renaissance style.
portale antico di destra

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Franciscan convent

The city palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The interior and works of art

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

One city, three sites

The Staircase of Angels

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The city within the city

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The Palazzo dei due mori

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The new roads of the city

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Church of St. Francis

A casket of precious works

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The eagle-shaped city

A stone garden

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Religious architecture

The church and the college

The palace, the town, the church

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Art in the cathedral

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The art of maiolica

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

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

A story of rebirth

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The articulated interior spaces

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Benedictines’ library

The Church of St. Benedict

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The expansion of space and changing reality

The church and the monastery

The works in the church

A heritage of votive works

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

City and nature

The Church of St. Paul

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

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

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The two churches

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town