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).

Norman apses

A long reconstruction

The wall comes to life

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A square as the heart of the city

A museum to save a tradition

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

A city in colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, two sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A symbol for the town

A majestic and luminous church

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Staircase of Angels

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

A feast only for Scicli

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

A hall for the feasts

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

Searching for colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Feast days

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A new site for a new church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The two churches

The church of Carmine

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A triumph of colour

The disastrous earthquake

A prominent church

The theatre of taste

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

Some prestigious works

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

A colourful floor

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Discovering the mother church

From International Gothic to present day

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The interior and its masterpieces

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The internal colours

The chocolate of Modica

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

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, three sites

A small room with a golden entrance

The Burgos crucifix

Prominent façade

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Many owners, one palace

An eagle-shaped city

A talking palace

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Some masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

A half-Baroque church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The city of museums