Scicli

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

One of the oldest churches in the town, it was spared in the earthquake of 1693. However, it was completely rebuilt in the mid-18th century by Modica-born architect Alessi, who used most of the square overlooked by the church to create as scenic a façade as possible. The works lasted for a century and were completed by the architect Fama of Palermo in the mid-19th century.
The elevation features three levels marked by half columns in the central part and pilaster strips in the lateral part, culminating in the belfry .

Foto fil di ferro Prospetto chiesa di San Michele
Prospetto chiesa di San Michele

The first level is marked by Corinthian columns surmounted by a cornice that follows the course of the free-standing columns, detached from the surface of the façade.
In the centre of the second level is a large wrought iron Louvre window, a memory from the former adjoining convent where the Augustinian cloistered nuns lived. The third level is defined by smooth pilaster strips with Corinthian capitals that frame the belfry.
 
The interior of the sacred building, which houses countless stuccoes, paintings, frescoes and polychrome decorations, has an elliptical plan that creates a play of perspective, and a semi-cylindrical apse .

The vault is stuccoed with floral and animal motifs reminiscent of Eden. The intense blue and gold coloured frescoes give a lively aura to the architectural space.
The floor of the church dates back to the 18th century. In fact, it is the original one made by the Lupo brothers in Ragusa pietra pece and white Comiso stone with a regular chessboard pattern.

The church and the college

The palace, the town, the church

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

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

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The Staircase of Angels

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

A casket of precious works

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of St. Benedict

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The interior of the church: space and colour

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The works in the church

The Franciscan convent

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Benedictines’ library

The new roads of the city

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

A unifying project for the city of Catania

One city, three sites

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

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The expansion of space and changing reality

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Art in the cathedral

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The church and the monastery

Luminous sacred spaces

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The eagle-shaped city

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

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

A heritage of votive works

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

City and nature

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Religious architecture

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

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

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A story of rebirth

The Church of St. Francis

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

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

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A stone garden

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The interior and works of art

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Palazzo dei due mori

The city palace

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

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

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

The articulated interior spaces

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

The art of maiolica

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano