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).

The Maiolica of the staircase

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A small room with a golden entrance

A long reconstruction

The theatre of taste

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The interior and its masterpieces

A new site for a new city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Prominent façade

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

Some masterpieces

A talking palace

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The city of museums

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Two illustrious patron saints

The two churches

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

A half-Baroque church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A new site for a new church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Searching for colour

Discovering the mother church

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

Some prestigious works

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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 symbol for the town

One city, two sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

An eagle-shaped city

A square as the heart of the city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A triumph of colour

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A colourful floor

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Norman apses

Many owners, one palace

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The church of Carmine

The colours of the cathedral

The wall comes to life

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, three sites

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

The Staircase of Angels

Between white and black

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

The Burgos crucifix

A city in colour

The internal colours

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

From International Gothic to present day

The disastrous earthquake

The Baroque town by the sea

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A prominent church

Feast days

A hall for the feasts

A majestic and luminous church

Limestone, the colour of harmony