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.

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

A story of rebirth

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

The Church of St. Benedict

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The Palazzo dei due mori

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

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

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The church and the college

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

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The articulated interior spaces

One city, three sites

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Franciscan convent

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The palace, the town, the church

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The Church of St. Francis

The Staircase of Angels

A casket of precious works

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

The city palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

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

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

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The church and the monastery

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The works in the church

The two churches

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

The eagle-shaped city

Art in the cathedral

St. Agatha and the candelore

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Benedictines’ library

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Reconstruction after the earthquake

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

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

The interior and works of art

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

City and nature

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Luminous sacred spaces

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

The Church of St. Paul

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The city within the city

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Religious architecture

The interior of the church: space and colour

A stone garden

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The new roads of the city

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

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The art of maiolica

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