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).

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Staircase of Angels

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The city of museums

A prominent church

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

A majestic and luminous church

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Two illustrious patron saints

A half-Baroque church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new site for a new church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

The church of Carmine

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

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

From International Gothic to present day

The internal colours

The Baroque town by the sea

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

A talking palace

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The theatre of taste

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Feast days

The two churches

Some masterpieces

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

A new site for a new city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A long reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

Between white and black

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Wonderful quick decorations

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Searching for colour

A miniature city

The wall comes to life

A museum to save a tradition

A feast only for Scicli

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The colours of the cathedral

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A symbol for the town

Discovering the mother church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A square as the heart of the city

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

The Maiolica of the staircase

The disastrous earthquake

Many owners, one palace

An eagle-shaped city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?