Caltagirone

An eagle-shaped city

Caltagirone boasts very ancient origins: the first settlements date back to the Neolithic Age.
Its strategic position high up in the hills brought the town centuries-long fortune.foto panoramica della città
Situated in the fertile plain between the Hyblaean and Erean Mountains, the Normans passed through Caltagirone and the Greeks and Romans before them. It has always been a very active city, with the work to renew not a consequence of the earthquake, but beginning much earlier.
Two main roads were built, one connecting the area of San Giorgio with San Giacomo and the other connecting the main church to the southern quarter.
The extraordinary Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte (Staircase of St. Mary of the Mountain) was built during this new road organisation, which included a plan of streets at right angles.
Foto drone cittàWhen seen from above, the town’s new layout was shaped like an eagle: the old quarter of the castle was its head, the quarters of San Giacomo and San Giorgio its wings, and the quarter of San Francesco its tail.
After the earthquake of 1693 Caltagirone was rebuilt on the same site and the previous road layout maintained. The city was enriched with splendid buildings and new architecture in blatant Baroque style, such as the church of Santa Chiara (St. Claire).

From International Gothic to present day

Some masterpieces

The interior and its masterpieces

A small room with a golden entrance

A prominent church

The chocolate of Modica

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The wall comes to life

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

A colourful floor

The Baroque town by the sea

Many owners, one palace

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

The colours of the cathedral

A majestic and luminous church

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The city of museums

A museum to save a tradition

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A square as the heart of the city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Between white and black

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

An eagle-shaped city

A symbol for the town

Feast days

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Some prestigious works

One city, two sites

The two churches

Prominent façade

A miniature city

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

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

Searching for colour

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

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

A city in colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Burgos crucifix

The theatre of taste

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new city

A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The disastrous earthquake

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, three sites

The church of Carmine