Catania

The internal colours

The church has a Greek cross plan. As you enter, you move from a small room to a large circular space where white is used extensively and gives the room an almost blinding brightness.
The gleam of white is joined by the yellow Castronovo marble altars, located in four large niches , where four wonderful statues stand.
foto ingresso verso altare maggioreThese were created by Giovanni Battista Marino in marble stucco . As per traditional Baroque sculpture, the clothing of the four characters moves and seems caught in a continuous breeze.
The statues depict St. Euplius, St. Benedict, St. Joseph and the Child, and the Immaculate Conception. Ignazio Carnazza’s work, the Crocefissione (Crucifixion), is another clear example of Baroque art.
altare minore 2 altare minore 1
In fact, the use of colour is a typical element from the period.
The wooden crucifix rests on a yellow marble background from which a red marble cloth descends. Though made of a hard material, the cloth seems soft. Red was not chosen by chance; the first stone given by God to humans to build the new Jerusalem was in fact red.
The work was commissioned by the abbess Giuseppa Maria Scammacca. The flooring completes the interior. The splendid floor was created by Ignazio Marino’s workshop using one of his designs. Black and white marble covers the entire surface with an abstract design that points towards the centre of the church.
crocifisso carnazza

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

An eagle-shaped city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

One city, two sites

A new site for a new city

From International Gothic to present day

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Staircase of Angels

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Some masterpieces

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Norman apses

A new site for a new church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Discovering the mother church

The city of museums

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Searching for colour

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

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

A miniature city

The chocolate of Modica

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A square as the heart of the city

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Burgos crucifix

The wall comes to life

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

A colourful floor

A majestic and luminous church

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A half-Baroque church

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The disastrous earthquake

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Some prestigious works

Feast days

Wonderful quick decorations

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A talking palace

A long reconstruction

One city, three sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

Many owners, one palace

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Baroque town by the sea

The internal colours

The interior and its masterpieces

A prominent church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Feasting in Palazzolo

Between white and black

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

New roads for Catania

A hall for the feasts

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The colours of the cathedral

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

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Prominent façade

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A museum to save a tradition

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A feast only for Scicli

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph