Palazzolo Acreide

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

sight
Infinite lights and colours

How wonderful!
The light and colours inside the church of San Sebastiano leave everyone breathless!
The crystal chandeliers shine and the surfaces around them reflect and light up in turn.
The marble columns shine and the blue, green and yellow stained glass windows filter warm rays of sunshine.
Full of colour, the church interior is tinged with black and white from the floor, accompanied by the yellow and light grey of the columns, and the white and gold of the walls. navata laterale lampadari accesi

hearing
21 cannon shots

The feast of San Sebastiano is an important moment for all worshippers and the whole country. Citizens gather together to honour the patron saint.
Every year on 10th August at 8:15 am, twenty-one cannon shots precede the departure of the bread cart, accompanied by music, for the traditional collection of “cuddure” (ring-shaped biscuits), offered to St. Sebastian.
Loud noises, firecrackers, music, voices and shouting can be heard early in the morning.

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The interior and its masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

The Maiolica of the staircase

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

New roads for Catania

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A half-Baroque church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

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

Some masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

Some prestigious works

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A miniature city

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Between white and black

A city in colour

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

The Burgos crucifix

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The disastrous earthquake

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A new site for a new church

The city of museums

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

Many owners, one palace

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The internal colours

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A talking palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A museum to save a tradition

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

An eagle-shaped city

Discovering the mother church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Searching for colour

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A feast only for Scicli

Norman apses

A prominent church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Prominent façade

Two illustrious patron saints

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A triumph of colour

One city, two sites

A colourful floor

A small room with a golden entrance

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

A long reconstruction

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A hall for the feasts

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

One city, three sites

A square as the heart of the city

A symbol for the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new site for a new city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life