Caltagirone

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The city, hit by the earthquake, was rebuilt in the same place, maintaining the previous urban plan and inserting beautiful new buildings in Baroque style.
The city of Caltagirone became an example of urban planning for the other cities affected by the earthquake of 1693. In particular, its plan was adopted in the reconstruction of Catania by the Duke of Camastra. The new buildings within the modern urban layout include the Monte delle Prestanze or Monte di Pietà in the square bordered by the Senatorial Palace, and opposite the church of San Giuliano (St. Julian).
monte prestanze prospetto frontale
dettaglio colonne ingressoBuilt at the start of the 18th century by architect Natale Bonaiuto, the building has a square plan. Its uniqueness manifests in the elevation.
In fact, it has a series of giant half columns on tall plinths, i.e. extending from the ground up to the upper floor, arranged in a tight pattern.
The absence of corbels and the thicker columns near the entrance are newer elements than the local tradition.
It was a symbol of great modernity and a very representative style for a building used as a civic bank.

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The two churches

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A casket of precious works

The city palace

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

Religious architecture

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The eagle-shaped city

Art in the cathedral

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The art of maiolica

A heritage of votive works

The Staircase of Angels

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Franciscan convent

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The Church of St. Paul

One city, three sites

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

A stone garden

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The new roads of the city

St. Agatha and the candelore

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Palazzo dei due mori

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The church and the college

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The church and the monastery

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The interior and works of art

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Benedictines’ library

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The interior of the church: space and colour

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The works in the church

A story of rebirth

City and nature

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The articulated interior spaces

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The city within the city

The Church of St. Francis

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout