Caltagirone

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

smell
The rusedda of the potters

Fiore di cisto marinoRusedda is the dialectal name of the fragrant cistus salvifolius plant, which was once used and much sought after by ceramists to burn in their kilns.
The cistus plants were gathered from the nearby San Pietro forest and carried by pack animals to the Conadomini church during the celebrations of the Madonna

hearing
The sombre sounds of the brogne

During the celebrations of the Madonna dei Conadomini the procession is accompanied by the sombre sound of brogne, large seashells used as musical instruments.
The strong contrast between the explosion of colour in the decorated floats and infiorata of the Staircase and the sombre sound of these natural instruments enhances the solemnity of the moment on the route to the Mother Church.

sight
The intense colours of the Madonna dei Conadomini

It is impossible not to be struck by the intensity of the colours that resonate within this work. From the wooden panel’s golden damask background, typical of the period, to the shadows around the sacred faces, not to mention the tender contact of the cheeks of the mother and her son.
If we focus on Mary’s blue starry cloak, a symbol of humanity and virginity, we cannot tear our gaze away from her extraordinarily large and dark hands, a symbol of strength and industriousness, or from Jesus’ red cloak, a symbol of divinity, with the recurring theme of the six-petal rosette.

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

The two churches

The Church of St. Benedict

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

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

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Staircase of Angels

The church and the monastery

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

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

The interior and works of art

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

A casket of precious works

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

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

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

A heritage of votive works

The city palace

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The church and the college

The Palazzo dei due mori

A stone garden

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The eagle-shaped city

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Church of Madonna della Stella

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The articulated interior spaces

City and nature

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

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

One city, three sites

The art of maiolica

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The works in the church

Luminous sacred spaces

The city within the city

The Franciscan convent

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The interior of the church: space and colour

The palace, the town, the church

Art in the cathedral

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Church of St. Francis

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

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

St. Agatha and the candelore

Religious architecture

A story of rebirth

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The new roads of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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