Catania

The colours of the cathedral

The contrast of colours offered by the cathedral’s façade is the result of specific choices by its architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini .

The cathedral of Sant'Agata
The cathedral of Sant’Agata overlooks the wide Piazza Duomo from which it is physically divided by a balustrade. After passing there is a churchyard to cross before you can access the interior of the basilica. The exterior has a facade that is divided into three floors: in the lower part are placed the main portal and the two sides, surmounted by large oval windows; in the center of the second floor there is a niche with the statue of Saint Agatha and the angels; closes the third and last floor closed by a triangular tympanum. For the facade the materials chosen were white limestone and gray lava stone. Together they create on the facade a geometric game where white often creates a frame around the black. In other cases the white highlights some architectural elements such as the capital or the base of the columns.

Grey lava stone and white marble were used, which, by alternating their use, bestow liveliness upon the façade. The façade is split into three levels: in the lowest part there are the main portal and two lateral portals, each surmounted by large oval windows; on the second level, in a niche , on a blue background with red beams, there is a white statue of St. Agatha and the angels; finally, a triangular tympanum completes the third level.
Cattedrale di Sant'Agata : foto prospetto ravvicinata Statua di Sant'Agata nella nicchia
Colour also features inside the church. At the entrance, two pairs of red columns welcome visitors and a marble floor in various colours (red, green, yellow and white) leads worshippers to the altar.foto dall'ingresso verso l'altare, comprese coppie di colonneThe church has a Latin cross plan and is divided into three naves by large limestone pillars with a grey lava stone base. This adds brightness to the whole room, which is amplified by light coming in through the windows of the nave.
At the end of the church you can admire the decorations on the main apse by painter Giovanni Battista Corradini, who painted the Trionfo di Sant’Agata (Triumph of St. Agatha).

Between white and black

One city, two sites

The two churches

A hall for the feasts

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

Norman apses

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Feast days

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Maiolica of the staircase

A miniature city

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

A symbol for the town

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The city of museums

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Two illustrious patron saints

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A city in colour

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The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

New roads for Catania

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The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A long reconstruction

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The chocolate of Modica

A half-Baroque church

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Limestone, the colour of harmony

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The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Discovering the mother church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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A museum to save a tradition

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A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Wonderful quick decorations

A triumph of colour

The interior and its masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Prominent façade

A prominent church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The church of Carmine

A talking palace

From International Gothic to present day

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A new site for a new city

The Baroque town by the sea

Some prestigious works

Searching for colour

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

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

A feast only for Scicli

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Staircase of Angels