Palazzolo Acreide

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

sight
Infinite lights and colours

How wonderful!
The light and colours inside the church of San Sebastiano leave everyone breathless!
The crystal chandeliers shine and the surfaces around them reflect and light up in turn.
The marble columns shine and the blue, green and yellow stained glass windows filter warm rays of sunshine.
Full of colour, the church interior is tinged with black and white from the floor, accompanied by the yellow and light grey of the columns, and the white and gold of the walls. navata laterale lampadari accesi

hearing
21 cannon shots

The feast of San Sebastiano is an important moment for all worshippers and the whole country. Citizens gather together to honour the patron saint.
Every year on 10th August at 8:15 am, twenty-one cannon shots precede the departure of the bread cart, accompanied by music, for the traditional collection of “cuddure” (ring-shaped biscuits), offered to St. Sebastian.
Loud noises, firecrackers, music, voices and shouting can be heard early in the morning.

The Burgos crucifix

A talking palace

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

The church of Carmine

A majestic and luminous church

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The wall comes to life

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The two churches

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

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

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

Some masterpieces

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new church

Two illustrious patron saints

A museum to save a tradition

Some prestigious works

The Maiolica of the staircase

Prominent façade

A triumph of colour

Limestone, the colour of harmony

New roads for Catania

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, two sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A feast only for Scicli

The city of museums

The Baroque town by the sea

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

A hall for the feasts

A colourful floor

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The chocolate of Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Feast days

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Staircase of Angels

Feasting in Palazzolo

Many owners, one palace

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Searching for colour

A long reconstruction

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Between white and black

Discovering the mother church

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

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, three sites

A symbol for the town

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A prominent church

The internal colours

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The façade used as a puppet theatre