The monastery's history is closely linked to its archaeological past and thanks especially to its location. Over the centuries, the monks assembled a highly valuable collection. Until a few decades ago it was set up in the five rooms connected to the library where the findings were divided into nat...

Rustication is a special arrangement given to stone blocks, which are arranged in rows staggered with the joints, so that the contact between the individual blocks is well defined. Diamond rustication takes its name from the shape of the individual blocks in the shape of a pyramidal prism....

The city of Noto Antica, known as Netum under Roman rule, was one of the main cultural, military and economic centres of south-eastern Sicily. Completely destroyed by the 1693 earthquake, it was surrounded by majestic walls, many of which are still intact, and the deep valleys of Mount Alveria....

In the eastern cloister, among the lush trees and shrubs, there is a small temple-shaped building with neo-Gothic lines. At the base there is a podium where three slim columns with small pendentives located between the corners of the four pointed arcades. The gaps between offer glimpses of colou...

At the end of a large corridor in the north wing of the monastery we find the refectory, where the monks ate their daily meal, an oval room surmounted by a large vault painted by the Catanese painter Giuseppe Piparo and now the seat of the Aula Magna (great hall) of the University of Catania. The ro...

The worship of St. Paul in Palazzolo Acreide has ancient origins, perhaps prior to his election as patron saint of the town in 1688. He replaced the Virgin Hodegetria worshipped in the church of San Sebastiano. This spectacular religious feast lasts three days and involves the entire country. The ...

The Solomonic column is a column with a spiralling twisted shaft. The sinuous movement is attributable to natural elements such as branches or serpents. ...

He was born in Noto around 1707 and his second marriage was to the granddaughter of Rosario Gagliardi. As well as being related, he studied and worked alongside him on the reconstruction of numerous buildings and churches, especially in Noto. The church of San Paolo (St. Paul) in Palazzolo Acreide...

The pronaos is the space in front of the cella (shrine) in ancient temples delimited by columns. However, it can indicate any building with a similar shape in the front space....

Born in Canicattini Bagni on 11 September 1922, Antonino Uccello completed his master's studies in Noto and settled in Palazzolo Acreide in 1944. He emigrated to Lombardy where he taught in schools in Brianza. The exodus experienced by Sicily in those years, the loss of cultural heritage and his es...