Catania

New roads for Catania

A geometric model was envisaged for the reconstruction and reorganisation of the streets of Catania, formed of streets with right angle intersections, extending around Piazza Duomo.
The four main roads (Via Etnea, Via Sangiuliano, Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi) were designed in this sense.
The former Via Uzeda, now Via Etnea, was designed with the idea of straightening the old Via La Luminaria and creating a long straight road starting from Piazza Duomo.
panorama piazza duomo catania Via Etnea
It was designed to intersect with Via Sangiuliano, which still links the Montevergine district to the sea, and with which it forms the Quattro Canti “.
Via San Giuliano  4 canti con Via Etnea
The other two roads that were built are the current Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, which today link Piazza Duomo with the old city and Piazza Duomo with Porta Garibaldi respectively.
Via Vittorio Emanuele Via Garibaldi

Via Crociferi was added and completed the city’s new road network, and is where some of the most beautiful churches in Catania were built. It was in these streets that the writer Giovanni Verga  set many of his novels. Some examples include Storia di una capinera (Story of a Blackcap), Una Peccatrice (A Sinner) and I Malavoglia (The Reluctance).
The new road layout brought great advantages to the city of Catania; it made it easier to move around and thus made it possible to create vast spaces where citizens could rush to safety in an earthquake. Reconstruction work was started by groups of workers from Calabria and the area around Etna, experts in the removal of lava stone  blocks.

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Staircase of Angels

One city, two sites

A miniature city

A prominent church

A square as the heart of the city

Prominent façade

The two churches

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some prestigious works

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

Between white and black

Connections with other UNESCO sites

New roads for Catania

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The colours of the cathedral

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The internal colours

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Discovering the mother church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Two illustrious patron saints

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

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

Feast days

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

A colourful floor

The Burgos crucifix

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A feast only for Scicli

A new site for a new church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A museum to save a tradition

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A talking palace

A triumph of colour

Wonderful quick decorations

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

Searching for colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A symbol for the town

Many owners, one palace

A small room with a golden entrance

A city in colour

A majestic and luminous church

One city, three sites

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The theatre of taste

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The wall comes to life

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From International Gothic to present day

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A hall for the feasts

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A new site for a new city

Feasting in Palazzolo

Some masterpieces

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A long reconstruction

The façade used as a puppet theatre

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras