Catania

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Catania is one of the cities located in eastern Sicily that overlooks the Ionian Sea and extends to the slopes of Mount Etna.
Etna Catania
The volcano is the symbol of the Etnean capital, though over the centuries its constant activity has been the cause of ruinous events such as the catastrophic eruption of 1669, traces of which are still visible along the streets, and more clearly in the Benedictine monastery.
In 1693 the city was struck by a disastrous earthquake and razed to the ground.
Reconstruction took place on the same site given the strategic position for trade between the coast and further inland. Where possible, the pre-existing buildings were restored, including the fortifications, apses and transept of the Norman Cathedral and some ancient buildings.
The city’s reaction to the earthquake was characterised by the great commitment of the Spanish ruling class, the state and religious authorities who demonstrated a remarkable capacity for organisation and foresight.
Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra was appointed by the Viceroy Duke of Uzeda as vicar general and quickly implemented the plan to rebuild Catania as soon as 1694. This “plan” was conceived in a unitary fashion, set on a system of roads that were orthogonal and no longer exclusively rigid. Within the system were a series of wide streets and squares that were geometrically different from one another.

The Benedictines’ library

The Franciscan convent

Art in the cathedral

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The city within the city

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

A heritage of votive works

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The works in the church

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

One city, three sites

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The new roads of the city

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

The city palace

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A story of rebirth

A stone garden

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The two churches

The interior and works of art

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

The church and the monastery

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

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

City and nature

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. Paul

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A casket of precious works

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Religious architecture

The Church of St. Francis

The Church of St. Benedict

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The palace, the town, the church

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The church and the college

Luminous sacred spaces

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

A unifying project for the city of Catania

St. Agatha and the candelore

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The articulated interior spaces

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Palazzo dei due mori

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano