Catania

Wonderful quick decorations

A strike of colour leaves you breathless as you enter the church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) on Via dei Crociferi.
The paintings that decorate the interior have a timeless beauty.
The painter Giovanni Tuccari was commissioned to fresco the church. He completed the entire painting series in just three years (1726-1729). At the centre of the vault is the triumph of St. Benedict accompanied by his sister, St. Scholastica, and Pope Gregory I. At the sides, Tuccari completed the work and painted some scenes from the saint’s life: him welcoming St. Maurus and St. Placidus, two Benedictine saints, and on another, Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, a barbarian population, kneels before him.
To complete the decoration, there is a series of female figures above the windows, the allegories of virtues : the first is prudence, a woman depicted near a marble column, a symbol of fortress; followed by temperance, faith, hope and splendid charity, a woman nursing her own baby and two others.
The depictions are full of figures, so the spectator becomes part of the scene, overwhelmed by the events. This effect and ability to involve the observer is all down to the artist. Using a play on light and shadow, Giovanni Tuccari : bestows movement and vitality upon the scenes. At the same time this painting technique allowed him to work extremely quickly; he completed the work in just three years.

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Baroque town by the sea

New roads for Catania

A feast only for Scicli

Feast days

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

A hall for the feasts

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A majestic and luminous church

A prominent church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From International Gothic to present day

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

The wall comes to life

The theatre of taste

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A half-Baroque church

A symbol for the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The interior and its masterpieces

The two churches

A city in colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

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

A colourful floor

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

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The chocolate of Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

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

A new site for a new church

Discovering the mother church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Two illustrious patron saints

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

A new site for a new city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The colours of the cathedral

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Many owners, one palace

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A triumph of colour

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

Some masterpieces

An eagle-shaped city

A talking palace

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

One city, two sites

Some prestigious works

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Between white and black

A small room with a golden entrance

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

Norman apses

One city, three sites

The Staircase of Angels

Prominent façade

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Connections with other UNESCO sites