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.

A symbol for the town

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A city in colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The interior and its masterpieces

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The wall comes to life

A feast only for Scicli

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

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The colours of the cathedral

Some prestigious works

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A prominent church

The theatre of taste

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

A talking palace

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A colourful floor

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A half-Baroque church

The city of museums

A miniature city

A long reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A triumph of colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

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

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Maiolica of the staircase

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

Feast days

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Between white and black

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Searching for colour

Many owners, one palace

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

New roads for Catania

Prominent façade

Discovering the mother church

A hall for the feasts

A square as the heart of the city

One city, two sites

An eagle-shaped city

The Burgos crucifix

The church of Carmine

Two illustrious patron saints

A museum to save a tradition

A small room with a golden entrance

The disastrous earthquake

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Feasting in Palazzolo

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Norman apses

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The chocolate of Modica

Some masterpieces

The internal colours