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.

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Between white and black

The internal colours

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The city of museums

An eagle-shaped city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

Wonderful quick decorations

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Modica, a city with ancient origins

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Staircase of Angels

A miniature city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

A new site for a new church

A small room with a golden entrance

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The wall comes to life

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

The Burgos crucifix

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The chocolate of Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The church of Carmine

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From International Gothic to present day

A half-Baroque church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A triumph of colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some masterpieces

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Discovering the mother church

Many owners, one palace

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Prominent façade

A talking palace

A symbol for the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

Two illustrious patron saints

A hall for the feasts

A museum to save a tradition

A long reconstruction

New roads for Catania

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The colours of the cathedral

A square as the heart of the city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

One city, three sites

A feast only for Scicli

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

Some prestigious works

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

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

Norman apses

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feast days

Searching for colour

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The interior and its masterpieces

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The disastrous earthquake

Limestone, the colour of harmony

One city, two sites

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom