Catania

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

The original site of the monastery was near the hill of Santa Sophia, outside the city walls, but in the 13th century the nuns moved into the city in the Civita district and founded the cloistered monastery dedicated to St. Julian.
After the terrible earthquake of 1693, the complex was razed to the ground and the Duke of Camastra was assigned the task of designing the city’s new urban plan, which envisaged rebuilding the monastic building in the same place. This fact caused the nuns great distress because, after the great earthquake, the route of the saint’s procession changed and they could no longer watch the passage of St. Agatha and her worshippers.
Consequently, the nuns, who came mostly from noble families in Catania, decided to move to a better area. In 1698 they moved to Via dei Crociferi.
They swapped the old Benedictine monastery for the Ospedale San Marco (St. Mark’s Hospital), modifying the buildings and beginning to build their new monastery, finally conquering an excellent view of the procession of St. Agatha that passed by Via San Giuliano then turned on to Via dei Crociferi.

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

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

The Franciscan convent

One city, three sites

The works in the church

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The two churches

The church and the college

The expansion of space and changing reality

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

The Staircase of Angels

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

A stone garden

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The city within the city

The city palace

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Church of St. Francis

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

The Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Benedict

A casket of precious works

Art in the cathedral

City and nature

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Luminous sacred spaces

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Benedictines’ library

A heritage of votive works

The interior and works of art

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The Palazzo dei due mori

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

A story of rebirth

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The art of maiolica

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The eagle-shaped city

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

St. Agatha and the candelore

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

The interior of the church: space and colour

The church and the monastery

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The new roads of the city

Altars, saints and sculptural works

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

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Religious architecture

The articulated interior spaces

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

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

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria