Catania

The Staircase of Angels

The entrance to the wonderful church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) is up the scala degli angeli (staircase of angels).
It was built to solve the problem of connecting the church to the street level, which is 7 metres lower. The staircase is one of the most characteristic examples of Sicilian Baroque. Its uniqueness, and name, is due to the sculptures of angels in marble stucco , a less valuable material than marble. It is no coincidence that this poor material was also used to highlight the church interior.
For the same reason it was left entirely white with a few golden decorations, so that the triumph of colour in the frescoes was even more evident and the contrast even greater.
Everything outside the church had to be made of less valuable materials. In fact, the main altar, the focus of the worshippers’ attention, was made of pure gold and silver.
Worshippers were to have no distractions; they would have had a clear idea of what the centre of their attention should have been: the altar, where religious service took place.

A half-Baroque church

The wall comes to life

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The city of museums

A long reconstruction

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Discovering the mother church

The Staircase of Angels

A square as the heart of the city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The internal colours

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Many owners, one palace

A hall for the feasts

Two illustrious patron saints

Wonderful quick decorations

A small room with a golden entrance

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A symbol for the town

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A colourful floor

New roads for Catania

A museum to save a tradition

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

Some prestigious works

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Prominent façade

Between white and black

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The disastrous earthquake

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

The colours of the cathedral

Norman apses

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Feast days

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The interior and its masterpieces

A feast only for Scicli

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

From International Gothic to present day

Searching for colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A talking palace

A city in colour

The church of Carmine

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A prominent church

Some masterpieces

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

The theatre of taste

A new site for a new church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

An eagle-shaped city

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, three sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph