Palazzolo Acreide

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

As you climb the scenic staircase that meanders up to the inside of the portico, you are led inside the church where the space with three naves is marked by five powerful arcades and enhanced by the precious vault.

The room expands into the side naves where the precious altars are located, two of which are placed in the side chapels. At the back, almost compressed in its majesty, is the main altar with the powerful Solomonic columns in polychrome marble that emerge from the apse.Your gaze is carried upwards above the entrance, where you can see the organ. One of the largest in the town, the organ is located on the upper balcony painted with angels, like an integral part of the heavenly vault of the ceiling.
 
The highly rich artistic repertoire of excellent workmanship contained in this casket includes works by Giuseppe Crestadoro arranged on various altars. Specifically, the painting of the Conversion of St. Paul , concludes the niche of the main altar where the statue of the patron saint is placed, shown to the public only during festive periods.
Sculpted in 1567 by Vincenzo Lorefice from Ragusa, the statue has a long and tormented history.
With the earthquake of 1693 it suffered so much serious damage to the face that its head was completely rebuilt. In the following centuries, it underwent preservation and embellishments that may have altered its original appearance.
 

The church and the monastery

A stone garden

The city palace

Religious architecture

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

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

City and nature

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

The Church of St. Benedict

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

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

The city within the city

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The eagle-shaped city

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The art of maiolica

The Church of St. Paul

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

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

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

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

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

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

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

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The palace, the town, the church

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

One city, three sites

The Church of Madonna della Stella

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

A casket of precious works

The articulated interior spaces

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The interior and works of art

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

Art in the cathedral

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

A story of rebirth

The Staircase of Angels

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

A unifying project for the city of Catania

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

The Palazzo dei due mori

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The interior of the church: space and colour

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Church of St. Francis

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Luminous sacred spaces

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

The two churches

The Benedictines’ library

The works in the church

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Franciscan convent

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church and the college

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

St. Agatha and the candelore

The new roads of the city

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work