Palazzolo Acreide

Feasting in Palazzolo

In Palazzolo Acreide St. Sebastian is so highly revered that there are two feasts!
The first celebration takes place on the 20th of January, the official day, and the other on the 10th of August. The summer feast is not only important from the religious point of view, but is enriched and completed with a series of activities and performances involving a large number of people.
The choice of date was not at all accidental; first of all it, it meant certain good weather and secondly, it coincided with the wheat harvest.
In addition, following the great migration north and overseas, the summer period was also the time when many Sicilians returned home for their holidays.
Therefore, once the day was decided, all that was left to do was to begin the festivities, which last ten days, from 8th to 17th August, and retrace the traditional rites and functions with musical performances, exhibitions and all kinds of events.
The 10th of August is clearly the more important day. It is the day of the “sciuta”, when the Saint and relics are taken from the churches carried on people’s shoulders as small firecrackers and thousands of “nsareddi”, 2-metre-long multi-coloured paper strips are thrown.
The marching band and fireworks are also not to be missed.
Festa di San SebastianoIt is a feast where the entire country comes to a standstill and the enthusiastic community participates in the celebrations.

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A prominent church

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

The Staircase of Angels

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A new site for a new church

The interior and its masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The chocolate of Modica

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Some masterpieces

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The church of Carmine

A talking palace

A colourful floor

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A feast only for Scicli

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The disastrous earthquake

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A miniature city

The theatre of taste

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

One city, two sites

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

New roads for Catania

The wall comes to life

From International Gothic to present day

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The city of museums

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Searching for colour

The Burgos crucifix

The Baroque town by the sea

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A city in colour

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

A half-Baroque church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

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

Feast days

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

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

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

Two illustrious patron saints

An eagle-shaped city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A square as the heart of the city

A long reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Many owners, one palace

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Between white and black

Prominent façade

A majestic and luminous church

The internal colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A museum to save a tradition

One city, three sites

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Discovering the mother church

A triumph of colour