Scicli

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

zoom palazzo del municipio
palazzo del municipio

The church of San Giovanni Evangelista (St. John the Evangelist) is located a few metres from Via Nazionale, near the town hall building.
In 1693, the earthquake destroyed the old building that was established by Baroness Giovanna Di Stefano. For the new church a new plot of land was chosen near the new Scicli, which was created and planned after the earthquake.
The nuns wasted no time; in the early 18th century they rebuilt the convent (later demolished to make room for the town hall) and in 1760 they decided to rebuild the church, too. It was designed by Vincenzo Sinatra , but the reconstruction was managed by Friar Alberto Maria di San Giovanni Battista. It was the friar who designed the interior decorations.
In 1776 the church was complete and can still be admired in all its beauty today.

The Church of San Giovanni Evangelista
The Church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Scicli is high and imposing. A curved staircase (indicating how many steps) separates the entrance door from the street level. The facade is built in white limestone and is divided into three horizontal bands each divided vertically by pairs of columns. The ground floor houses a green portal with yellow decorations in relief. On the first floor there is a black wrought iron balcony and three green doors. The central part of the top floor is broken and this produces the effect of a structure projected upwards.

The lower section has a wooden entrance portal and two small side niches . The central section has three windows of different sizes concealed by a louvre balcony enriched by a wrought iron railing and is completed by an elegant curved broken tympanum .

zoom Nicchia laterale
Nicchia laterale

The splendid white stone façade shines and enchants the square, with the entrance above street level. The vivacity of its components looms threateningly over passers-by.

The chiaroscuro effect is given by the projecting columns and the structure’s undulating movement, rounded in the central part and concave at the sides, animating the façade and bringing it to life.

The whiteness is again broken up by the play of light and shadow and the black railing of the louvre windows on the second floor. On the first level, where the entrance portal is located, the classic Baroque festoons, still used today for birthday parties, were carved on the capitals.

These particular capitals are called Michelangelo's ionic capitals .

dettaglio Gelosie, secondo livello  Festoni sui capitelli delle colonne del primo livello

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The disastrous earthquake

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

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

A long reconstruction

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

Prominent façade

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

One city, two sites

A square as the heart of the city

A hall for the feasts

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

A symbol for the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

A triumph of colour

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Between white and black

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

The colours of the cathedral

A city in colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The city of museums

A talking palace

The two churches

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Discovering the mother church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The internal colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Norman apses

Some masterpieces

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A colourful floor

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, three sites

New roads for Catania

Two illustrious patron saints

Some prestigious works

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Wonderful quick decorations

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feast days

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Searching for colour

A prominent church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A majestic and luminous church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A feast only for Scicli

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

The chocolate of Modica

The Staircase of Angels

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Burgos crucifix

The theatre of taste

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Feasting in Palazzolo

The wall comes to life

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new site for a new church

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

From International Gothic to present day

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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