Modica

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The city of Modica, which was the capital of the county of the same name until 1816, is located in the central part of the Hyblaean plateau.
città panoramica ModicaIt sits in a natural scenic context characterised by a particular urban structure due to two deep gorges on which the two sides of the city stand.
Already in the Middle Ages there was strong discontinuity between the central district and the outer parts, which is where the characteristic image of the broken pomegranate, as poetically described by the writer Gesualdo Bufalino came from.
The inhabited centre is built across two districts, Modica alta (Upper Modica), built in a rocky, hilly area, and Modica bassa (Lower Modica), which is built around the two former streams.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, Modica was crossed by small streams and a series of bridges that connected the various parts of the city. The rivers were buried and the old river became the current Corso Umberto.
corso Umberto I città drone inquadrando frontalmente le due chiese
The motif of the staircase, a main architectural feature of the city, is often used to bridge the gap between the different levels. The Cathedral of San Giorgio and that of San Pietro, two important religious buildings that are more majestic than the rest of the city, are both located above the city and are connected to the areas below by a majestic staircase.
Modica is also called the “city of a hundred churches” for the conspicuous presence of sacred buildings erected during the fervent reconstruction following the earthquake of 1693, led by the monastic orders and rich landowners.

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The church and the monastery

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Luminous sacred spaces

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A stone garden

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Palazzo dei due mori

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Staircase of Angels

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

St. Agatha and the candelore

The city palace

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The Franciscan convent

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The works in the church

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Art in the cathedral

The two churches

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

Religious architecture

The interior of the church: space and colour

The interior and works of art

Unusual iconographies: 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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

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

City and nature

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. Paul

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Church of St. Benedict

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The Church of St. Francis

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

A heritage of votive works

The palace, the town, the church

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The church and the college

The articulated interior spaces

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

A casket of precious works

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The new roads of the city

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The art of maiolica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

A story of rebirth

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

One city, three sites

The eagle-shaped city

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The city within the city

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The expansion of space and changing reality

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Altars, saints and sculptural works

A unifying project for the city of Catania

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

The Benedictines’ library

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

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

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio