Catania

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

One of the most evocative rooms of the monastery is the kitchen.
foto cucina della portaLike the refectory, antirefectory, library and museum, the space dedicated to preparing food was designed by Giovan Battista Vaccarini and its construction began in 1739.
foto cucina dei benedettiniThe architect had to take into account the rules of monastic architecture, which meant separating the kitchen from the other rooms. This way, if there was a fire, it would not spread to the other rooms.
Similarly, the passageways leading to the refectory as well as being narrow were equipped with multiple barriers.
The kitchen underwent various changes over the years, but the structure has remained the same with the hearths in the centre, a huge brazier placed in an octagonal “chamber”.
The maiolica decorations that enrich the structure create splendid orange and blue squares with a white background of abstract motifs. The floor is just as surprising. Also made with colourful maiolica tiles, it extends across the whole room. However, the floor is not simple or uniform; it is divided into eight parts with two different alternating decorations.
The first is a white floor with fine blue, black and yellow geometric decorations that cover the smaller portions; the other is larger and more colourful, where yellow and green dominate the blue, orange and white decoration. foto Dettaglio maioliche

Searching for colour

A city in colour

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Feast days

A colourful floor

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The Burgos crucifix

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Baroque town by the sea

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some prestigious works

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The chocolate of Modica

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A square as the heart of the city

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The internal colours

From International Gothic to present day

The city of museums

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The theatre of taste

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The disastrous earthquake

A talking palace

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Norman apses

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

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

A miniature city

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

The two churches

A triumph of colour

A half-Baroque church

Two illustrious patron saints

Between white and black

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A symbol for the town

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

The church of Carmine

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

New roads for Catania

A feast only for Scicli

Discovering the mother church

Prominent façade

The colours of the cathedral

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A hall for the feasts

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

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A prominent church

The interior and its masterpieces

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Wonderful quick decorations

A majestic and luminous church

One city, two sites

A museum to save a tradition

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some masterpieces

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church