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

A museum to save a tradition

A small room with a golden entrance

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The wall comes to life

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, three sites

A symbol for the town

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

An eagle-shaped city

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A majestic and luminous church

The colours of the cathedral

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Many owners, one palace

The Burgos crucifix

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new city

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

Prominent façade

New roads for Catania

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

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new church

A miniature city

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

The city of museums

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

Some prestigious works

Searching for colour

A hall for the feasts

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The two churches

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

A colourful floor

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The chocolate of Modica

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Norman apses

Two illustrious patron saints

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Staircase of Angels

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, two sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A triumph of colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Some masterpieces

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

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

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A talking palace

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From International Gothic to present day

A prominent church

A feast only for Scicli

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Between white and black

The church of Carmine