Catania

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) is part of a larger complex including the monastery and a small church where the MACS (Museo Arte Contemporanea Sicilia, Sicily Contemporary Art Museum) is now located.foto del prospetto
It was also part of the reorganisation after the earthquake in 1693.
In fact, the Benedictine monastery originally had only one church, the second (home to the museum) was part of the old convent of Santa Maddalena (St. Magdalene), which were connected by an arch in 1704. The church was rebuilt in a few years (1704-1713) and dedicated to St. Benedict of Nursia .
foto arco d’unione foto monastero da via crociferi inquadrando l’arco d’unione
The façade of the church on Via dei Crociferi is tall and majestic and separated from the street by a wrought iron gate. The gate is divided horizontally into three levels: in the first there is the access portal; in the second there is a louvre window with a balcony; and the same layout is also repeated on the final level which completes the façade with a triangular structure.
For the decoration some architectural elements were used creatively; one example includes the structures on the first level that divide the façade vertically and are formed by a half column, on which a pilaster strip then another half column are placed.
foto gradinata dal basso verso l'alto foto dettaglio statue angeli
The entrance is up a spectacular staircase; the church has a single nave nave and is illuminated by the six large windows on the vault and the chandeliers resting on the trabeation .
The polychrome marble floor is the only remnant of the 17th-century church and was recovered from the ruins of the earthquake.

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The city of museums

A miniature city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The theatre of taste

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Maiolica of the staircase

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The wall comes to life

A new site for a new city

Discovering the mother church

Prominent façade

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The chocolate of Modica

Two illustrious patron saints

An eagle-shaped city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A talking palace

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Connections with other UNESCO sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

Some masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A majestic and luminous church

One city, two sites

A colourful floor

A feast only for Scicli

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Between white and black

A museum to save a tradition

A square as the heart of the city

A small room with a golden entrance

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

A triumph of colour

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

From International Gothic to present day

A half-Baroque church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Norman apses

The two churches

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A hall for the feasts

New roads for Catania

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

The interior and its masterpieces

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The Staircase of Angels

The internal colours

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Searching for colour

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

A new site for a new church

The church of Carmine

Feast days

A symbol for the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata