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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A small room with a golden entrance

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A square as the heart of the city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

From International Gothic to present day

A new site for a new city

A majestic and luminous church

The church of Carmine

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

Prominent façade

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Discovering the mother church

An eagle-shaped city

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new site for a new church

A half-Baroque church

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The disastrous earthquake

A prominent church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Norman apses

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The two churches

The interior and its masterpieces

One city, two sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A miniature city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Feast days

Some masterpieces

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A symbol for the town

The theatre of taste

Wonderful quick decorations

Feasting in Palazzolo

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Between white and black

A triumph of colour

A city in colour

The wall comes to life

Searching for colour

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

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

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

A museum to save a tradition

Two illustrious patron saints

The internal colours

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A talking palace

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A feast only for Scicli

Some prestigious works

The Baroque town by the sea

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A hall for the feasts

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A long reconstruction

The city of museums

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Burgos crucifix

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The chocolate of Modica

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A colourful floor

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara