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).

Some masterpieces

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

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

A colourful floor

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The chocolate of Modica

St. Sebastian, so much work!

New roads for Catania

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A city in colour

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The theatre of taste

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new city

The wall comes to life

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

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

A square as the heart of the city

The Baroque town by the sea

The Burgos crucifix

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Maiolica of the staircase

The colours of the cathedral

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Discovering the mother church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The interior and its masterpieces

Between white and black

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

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

A symbol for the town

One city, three sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A talking palace

A feast only for Scicli

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

Many owners, one palace

The internal colours

A hall for the feasts

A miniature city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A small room with a golden entrance

The Staircase of Angels

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The city of museums

Norman apses

A new site for a new church

An eagle-shaped city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

From International Gothic to present day

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

One city, two sites

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The two churches

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some prestigious works

Prominent façade

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A triumph of colour

A prominent church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The disastrous earthquake

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras