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.

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Searching for colour

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

A miniature city

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The church of Carmine

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

An eagle-shaped city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A triumph of colour

A feast only for Scicli

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The two churches

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

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A museum to save a tradition

Some prestigious works

Norman apses

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Baroque town by the sea

The internal colours

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Feasting in Palazzolo

One city, three sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The disastrous earthquake

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Prominent façade

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A prominent church

Feast days

A talking palace

The colours of the cathedral

A square as the heart of the city

The wall comes to life

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Many owners, one palace

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The theatre of taste

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The Burgos crucifix

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

A colourful floor

New roads for Catania

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A symbol for the town

Discovering the mother church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A hall for the feasts

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new site for a new city

The Maiolica of the staircase

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

Two illustrious patron saints

The interior and its masterpieces

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Some masterpieces

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Between white and black

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

The city of museums

A majestic and luminous church