Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

hearing
In memory of Bellini

The church has an unbreakable bond with music.
The cathedral of St. Agatha is not only home to a magnificent organ, now located above the entrance, but it also houses the remains of the great composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). Though he died very young, he was recognised as one of the greatest composers of his time.
The artist’s tomb was created in 1876 by Giovanni Battista Tassara and is located next to one of the pillars of the right nave.

touch
The difference between marble and lava stone

differenza tra il marmo e la pietra lavicaMarble and lava stone, which have very different physical and aesthetic characteristics, are the two most common materials in the construction of the Cathedral of Sant’Agata (St. Agatha).
This contrast, which is already perceptible to the naked eye, becomes immediately clear when touching the materials: the marble is smooth and cold, and the lava stone porous and warm.

sight
Scenography and wonder

The cathedral of Sant’Agata (St. Agatha) is set in a truly unique environmental and architectural context. Its scenographic composition never fails to amaze.
Your gaze will meander through the domes, the multiple viewpoints offered by the square, and Etna in the background. Its unique beauty changes continuously according to your vantage point.

A stone garden

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The Franciscan convent

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The interior and works of art

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

A heritage of votive works

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

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The new roads of the city

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The interior of the church: space and colour

City and nature

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

The Church of St. Francis

Religious architecture

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A story of rebirth

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Palazzo dei due mori

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The city palace

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The church and the college

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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

One city, three sites

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The palace, the town, the church

The Church of St. Paul

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

The articulated interior spaces

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Art in the cathedral

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Luminous sacred spaces

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

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

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

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Church of St. Benedict

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The city within the city

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Benedictines’ library

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

The two churches

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

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

A casket of precious works

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

The works in the church

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The art of maiolica

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The church and the monastery

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

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