Caltagirone

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James) is one of the most important and heartfelt festivals in Caltagirone.
It is dedicated to the patron saint and lasts four days.
The festivities begin on the 23rd of July with fireworks and a concert. This is followed between the 24th and 25th by the illumination of the staircase and the majestic procession from San Giacomo to the town hall. The first official illumination was in 1703. On the evening of the 31st, the Relics and the Simulacrum of St. James are carried in procession and can be admired until the 1st of August when they are returned to the church.
The saint’s statue is carried around the entire town and always takes the same route. The festival has very ancient origins; it began in 1090!
It has been celebrated every year since. Over the centuries, things have inevitably changed, but not the spirit of the participants.

A long reconstruction

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A museum to save a tradition

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

A majestic and luminous church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A talking palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A small room with a golden entrance

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Searching for colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Norman apses

The Baroque town by the sea

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

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

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

Two illustrious patron saints

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feast days

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A colourful floor

An eagle-shaped city

A hall for the feasts

A miniature city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From International Gothic to present day

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new church

One city, three sites

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some masterpieces

The Burgos crucifix

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A feast only for Scicli

The church of Carmine

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Between white and black

The city of museums

The chocolate of Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

A prominent church

The Maiolica of the staircase

The internal colours

A triumph of colour

The disastrous earthquake

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Discovering the mother church

The theatre of taste

The interior and its masterpieces

A symbol for the town

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

A new site for a new city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A city in colour

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Prominent façade

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A half-Baroque church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The colours of the cathedral

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A square as the heart of the city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

New roads for Catania

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Many owners, one palace