Catania

The Staircase of Angels

The most famous architectural element of the entire monastic complex is the Scala degli Angeli (staircase of the angels). The majestic main entrance leading into the church was completed in 1712 and is a characteristic example of Sicilian Baroque.
The staircase of the angels, so called because of the sculptures depicting the heavenly creatures, is made of marble stucco, a less valuable material than marble but one cleverly used to highlight the opulence of the church.
For this reason, everything outside the entrance portal of the church had to be less valuable, so as not to distract the worshippers from their prayers. With its convexity, concavity, stucco and ellipses, the staircase reflects the dynamics of Baroque architecture.
It was built to connect the church floor to street level, which was seven metres lower.
The floor composed of two-tone marble slabs is very old and stylistically in contrast to the exuberant Baroque staircase. The portal, by an unknown artist, dates back to 1708. It is entirely carved in wood, with 8 panels depicting scenes from the life of St. Benedict.

Luminous sacred spaces

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

City and nature

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The city within the city

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Religious architecture

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The interior of the church: space and colour

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Staircase of Angels

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

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Franciscan convent

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Art in the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

The palace, the town, the church

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The city palace

The church and the college

The Church of St. Francis

The interior and works of art

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

St. Agatha and the candelore

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A stone garden

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The works in the church

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Church of St. Benedict

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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

Reconstruction after the earthquake

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

A casket of precious works

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The eagle-shaped city

The new roads of the city

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

A heritage of votive works

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

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

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

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The expansion of space and changing reality

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

A story of rebirth

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The articulated interior spaces

The Benedictines’ library

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Palazzo dei due mori

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The two churches

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

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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