Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

touch
The illusion of marble: marble stucco

Marble stucco is an ancient technique that tends to imitate marble and is far cheaper.
The finish of this type of stucco can be of such high quality that it is indistinguishable from natural marble.

sight
The illusion of movement

The interior of the church creates a continuously moving illusory effect thanks to some of its characteristic elements: the lateral arcades, the vault and the apse arcade seems to bring the gaze towards the altar.
With its countless stuccoes and frescoes, the vault creates the sensation of participating in a whirling motion where art and architecture interact.
Nothing seems motionless in this space and there is a continuous tension throughout.

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The city within the city

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Luminous sacred spaces

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The new roads of the city

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Church of St. Benedict

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

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

A story of rebirth

The works in the church

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

A unifying project for the city of Catania

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

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

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

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

City and nature

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

One city, three sites

The two churches

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

The palace, the town, the church

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The interior and works of art

A stone garden

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Art in the cathedral

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The articulated interior spaces

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The eagle-shaped city

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

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

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The Franciscan convent

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

A casket of precious works

The church and the monastery

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Church of St. Paul

Religious architecture

The church and the college

The art of maiolica

A heritage of votive works

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The city palace

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Staircase of Angels

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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