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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Many owners, one palace

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A hall for the feasts

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The interior and its masterpieces

Discovering the mother church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Connections with other UNESCO sites

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A small room with a golden entrance

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Prominent façade

Some masterpieces

A prominent church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Norman apses

The Staircase of Angels

Feast days

The disastrous earthquake

The Burgos crucifix

Two illustrious patron saints

A symbol for the town

The theatre of taste

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A majestic and luminous church

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

One city, three sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Maiolica of the staircase

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

One city, two sites

A half-Baroque church

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A miniature city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A long reconstruction

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A colourful floor

New roads for Catania

The Baroque town by the sea

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some prestigious works

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The internal colours

Searching for colour

A talking palace

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

A new site for a new city

The colours of the cathedral

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Feasting in Palazzolo

The city of museums

Wonderful quick decorations

A new site for a new church

A museum to save a tradition

The chocolate of Modica

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A city in colour

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

Between white and black

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

A feast only for Scicli

The wall comes to life

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

The two churches

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The church of Carmine

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra