Catania

A small room with a golden entrance

La cappella di Sant'Agata (St. Agatha) è uno dei luoghi più amati dai catanesi: situata nell’ Apse destro della cattedrale, fu voluta dal viceré Ferdinando d'Acuňa , ma, dopo la sua morte, della costruzione si occupò la moglie Maria d’Avila.
 
I lavori iniziarono nel 1495, a cura dello scultore Antonello Freri da Messina, e il risultato è ancora oggi visibile, un trionfo di luci e colori.
Per la pavimentazione si scelsero marmi di varie tinte: nero, bianco, grigio, rosso; per le pareti sono le sculture a dare vitalità ai muri, ulteriormente arricchite nelle parti più alte da meravigliosi affreschi.
Tutta questa luminosità, data anche e soprattutto dall’uso dell’oro, contrasta con la cancellata in ferro battuto che divide la cappella dal resto della chiesa.
foto alla cappella nel suo insieme
L’interno presenta una splendida decorazione dietro l’altare dove si alternano tra le sculture il bianco e l’oro. A catturare l’attenzione è il retablo .
Posto dietro l’altare, esso è una scultura con al centro la glorificazione di Sant’Agata che viene presentata a Cristo dalla Vergine, a destra e sinistra, rispettivamente, San Paolo e San Pietro, e in alto chiudono la composizione i quattro evangelisti: San Marco, San Luca, San Matteo e San Giovanni.

Zoom Retablo
retablo

A destra dell’altare, si trova il monumento sepolcrale di Ferdinando d’Acuňa, a sinistra, una cancellata dorata invece nasconde la “cammaredda”: una stanza di piccole dimensioni dove, in brillanti scrigni d’argento, si conservano le reliquie di Sant’Agata.

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The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A talking palace

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Prominent façade

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

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A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Wonderful quick decorations

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

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

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Searching for colour

A miniature city

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The theatre of taste

The interior and its masterpieces

A majestic and luminous church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The disastrous earthquake

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The church of Carmine

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Staircase of Angels

A museum to save a tradition

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A city in colour

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The two churches

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Between white and black

The internal colours

The city of museums

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new city

A triumph of colour

Two illustrious patron saints

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Baroque town by the sea

A colourful floor

A prominent church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Burgos crucifix

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, three sites

A half-Baroque church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new church

Some masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

From International Gothic to present day

Many owners, one palace

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The chocolate of Modica

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

A symbol for the town

Norman apses

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Feast days

New roads for Catania