Caltagirone

The representative elements of the Church of San Francesco d’Assisi all’Immacolata

One of the elements that characterises the majestic church of San Francesco d’Assisi all’Immacolata is the dome, crowned by glazed terracotta spheres and divided into eight sections that house large windows.
The dome was left unfinished due to a tragic collapse in 1702 during works to complete it.
In fact, it does not have a segmental dome, i.e. the hemisphere that makes up the dome, or a skylight, the element used to let light into the dome. Another element of great value is the bell tower built in 1852 by Caltagirone architect Salvatore Marino, which stands slenderly next to the dome.
cappella del seminario  foto del campanile e cupola
Its shape and finishes were designed to match the ornamental richness of the façade. In addition, a cusp was designed, a pointed ornamental structure in turn surmounted by a tall steeple, an architectural element with an elongated, thin profile that, together with the cusp creates the illusion of the bell tower extending further up to the sky.
The bell tower is so elegant that it inspired the architect Ugo Tarchi who, in 1954, designed the bell tower of the Cathedral of San Giuliano nearby the church of San Francesco D’Assisi.
There are some very valuable objects inside the church. These include numerous paintings by the Vaccaro brothers, a silver-covered wooden statue from 1677 depicting St. Anthony, and a large maiolica panel by Antonio Ragona, depicting the nativity with St. Francis.

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The expansion of space and changing reality

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

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

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

A heritage of votive works

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

City and nature

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Benedictines’ library

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

The new roads of the city

The Franciscan convent

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

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

Luminous sacred spaces

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Palazzo dei due mori

A casket of precious works

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

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

The Church of St. Paul

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Art in the cathedral

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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

The Church of St. Benedict

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The city within the city

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The art of maiolica

The interior and works of art

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The church and the monastery

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The interior of the church: space and colour

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The eagle-shaped city

A story of rebirth

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The palace, the town, the church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The works in the church

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

A stone garden

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The articulated interior spaces

One city, three sites

The church and the college

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The city palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The two churches

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Religious architecture