Caltagirone

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

hearing
Listening was important

With a little imagination you can return to 1800 when the church was still used by the nuns and you could listen to the liturgical celebrations.
Worshippers and the nuns attended mass. But there was a problem!
The nuns could not be seen by anyone because they lived in seclusion.
So how did they attend mass? Galleries, like a sort of box seat, were built with louvre blinds (grilles), behind which they could watch the celebrations without being seen.

touch
Touch to discover

Touching objects is one of our instincts and gives us an immediate connection to what is in front of us.
Touching the façade of Santa Chiara (St. Claire) would help us understand the material’s hardness, the stone’s temperature and the porosity of the surface (smooth or rough), giving us a great deal of information in a very short time.
When comparing this information with other objects, we uncover the differences between one material and another.
The maiolica tiles on the floor of Santa Chiara are colder and much smoother to the touch than the façade. The wood of the galleries, on the other hand, is warmer than the sandstone façade and the maiolica floor and balustrade.

sight
Antependium

The alter area hides a masterpiece: the antependium.
Situated in the front part of the altar, the artists took inspiration from Renaissance architecture for the decoration.
The result was a splendid scenographic effect, amplified by the use of mirrors and embellished with materials such as amber and wood covered with silver sheets, then worked to imitate gold.
The light that hits it creates wonderful reflections that illuminate the room. foto edificio a specchi

A city in colour

Norman apses

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Searching for colour

The Baroque town by the sea

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

The colours of the cathedral

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Wonderful quick decorations

A symbol for the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

A majestic and luminous church

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A prominent church

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A talking palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Feast days

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The internal colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Prominent façade

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new city

An eagle-shaped city

Discovering the mother church

Two illustrious patron saints

A square as the heart of the city

The city of museums

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A feast only for Scicli

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A colourful floor

A half-Baroque church

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

New roads for Catania

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A hall for the feasts

Some prestigious works

The interior and its masterpieces

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The disastrous earthquake

A miniature city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Between white and black

The church of Carmine

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A museum to save a tradition

The two churches

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

A triumph of colour

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

One city, two sites

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

The Burgos crucifix

One city, three sites

The chocolate of Modica

A Nobel Prize in Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours