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).

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The internal colours

An eagle-shaped city

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Some prestigious works

A city in colour

One city, two sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

Many owners, one palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

From International Gothic to present day

One city, three sites

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The wall comes to life

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

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

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Between white and black

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A miniature city

New roads for Catania

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A triumph of colour

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A museum to save a tradition

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A square as the heart of the city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A symbol for the town

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A small room with a golden entrance

The Burgos crucifix

A new site for a new city

The theatre of taste

Discovering the mother church

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

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The city of museums

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Feast days

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A talking palace

The chocolate of Modica

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A feast only for Scicli

Searching for colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Some masterpieces

The church of Carmine

A half-Baroque church

Prominent façade

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A colourful floor

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new site for a new church

Two illustrious patron saints

A Nobel Prize in Modica

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A hall for the feasts

A long reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Baroque town by the sea

The colours of the cathedral

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

A majestic and luminous church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town