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.

Discovering the mother church

The chocolate of Modica

The colours of the cathedral

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A symbol for the town

A majestic and luminous church

A museum to save a tradition

A square as the heart of the city

Some prestigious works

A colourful floor

From International Gothic to present day

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

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

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

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

A long reconstruction

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

The Burgos crucifix

One city, three sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The theatre of taste

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A hall for the feasts

The Baroque town by the sea

The interior and its masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Between white and black

The two churches

The city of museums

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

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The internal colours

A miniature city

Wonderful quick decorations

The wall comes to life

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Modica, a city with ancient origins

One city, two sites

New roads for Catania

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Feast days

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feasting in Palazzolo

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Some masterpieces

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A new site for a new city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

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

A city in colour

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A new site for a new church

The church of Carmine

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A feast only for Scicli

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A prominent church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A talking palace

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Staircase of Angels

An eagle-shaped city

Norman apses

Prominent façade

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Maiolica of the staircase

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The disastrous earthquake

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?