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).

Wonderful quick decorations

Prominent façade

The theatre of taste

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Connections with other UNESCO sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Burgos crucifix

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

A talking palace

Some masterpieces

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Two illustrious patron saints

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The chocolate of Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The disastrous earthquake

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

One city, two sites

The church of Carmine

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

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The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Feast days

A colourful floor

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The city of museums

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St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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A city in colour

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The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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The internal colours

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The colours of the cathedral

Norman apses

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Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Between white and black

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The Staircase of Angels

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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A half-Baroque church

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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A feast only for Scicli

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Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A hall for the feasts

Feasting in Palazzolo

A triumph of colour

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some prestigious works