Caltagirone

The Franciscan convent

Adjacent to the Church of San Francesco d’Assisi all’Immacolata stands the Franciscan convent complex, the largest in the city, located atop one of the hills in Caltagirone and founded in 1236 by Beato Riccardo.
foto dalla piazza portale d’ingresso al chiostroA complex so important that the surrounding urban fabric was substantially reorganised: the square in front of it was lowered by a few metres and a public road was opened on the left side of the church.
The Franciscans’ commitment to the city was already very active even before the earthquake of 1693. In fact, we must remember the contribution of the friar Gerardo Arcolaci for having started the majestic restoration and expansion of the complex and promoting the construction of the bridge of San Francesco, a fundamental element of union within the city.
Over the centuries, the convent underwent various changes in ownership and use, first becoming a barracks, then a court of law, and was finally returned to the ecclesiastical community.
Today the former convent houses the bishop’s apartments, the Biblioteca Pio XI library, the Diocesan Offices, the old Seminary Chapel, built in neo-Gothic style, and the diocesan museum .
sala museopiazza portale d’ingresso al chiostro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the convent’s most interesting rooms is the parlour, a place where guests of the clerics and seminarians were welcomed. Originally, it was the old Oratory of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, established in 1676 by potters from Caltagirone.
antica cappella del seminario

The art of maiolica

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

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The casket of austerity under the great dome

St. Agatha and the candelore

The interior of the church: space and colour

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

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

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Staircase of Angels

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Franciscan convent

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The works in the church

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The articulated interior spaces

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The church and the monastery

The new roads of the city

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The interior and works of art

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Palazzo dei due mori

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The church and the college

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Benedictines’ library

One city, three sites

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

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

The city within the city

Luminous sacred spaces

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

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

A stone garden

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Benedict

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

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

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Art in the cathedral

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The expansion of space and changing reality

Religious architecture

The city palace

The two churches

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

A casket of precious works

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

A story of rebirth

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

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

City and nature