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.

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

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

The church of Carmine

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

New roads for Catania

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

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

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

Feast days

One city, two sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A feast only for Scicli

A talking palace

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Two illustrious patron saints

The Burgos crucifix

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The façade used as a puppet theatre

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

Feasting in Palazzolo

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A new site for a new city

Searching for colour

Discovering the mother church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A prominent church

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A majestic and luminous church

The internal colours

A symbol for the town

A small room with a golden entrance

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, three sites

Wonderful quick decorations

The wall comes to life

Some masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

An eagle-shaped city

Some prestigious works

A square as the heart of the city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The city of museums

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A city in colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A museum to save a tradition

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The colours of the cathedral

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

Prominent façade

A miniature city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A colourful floor

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

From International Gothic to present day

Between white and black

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

The Staircase of Angels

A triumph of colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The Baroque town by the sea

The disastrous earthquake

A new site for a new church

Norman apses