Caltagirone

The eagle-shaped city

The city of Caltagirone has very ancient origins; the first traces of settlements date back to the Neolithic age. Thanks to its strategic position on the fertile plain of the Hyblaean mountains, it became a destination for the Normans and the Greeks and Romans before them.
The city, which has always been very active, began its urban renewal even before the catastrophic earthquake of 1693. At the end of the 16th century the city was expanding.
The mother church and the castle were the focal point of the city, but with the construction of new districts it was necessary to build specific connecting roads.
In this way, roads were inserted to connect the area of San Giorgio with that of San Giacomo from east to west, and from north to south between the mother church and the southern quarter.
It was during this time that the extraordinary Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte (Staircase of St. Mary of the Mountain) and the bridge of San Francesco were built, both highly coveted by the Franciscans. Seen from above, the town’s new configuration was shaped like an eagle: the head was the former castle, the wings the quarters of San Giacomo and San Giorgio, and the tail the quarter of San Francesco.
aerea con drone

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The casket of austerity under the great dome

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

The Church of St. Francis

Art in the cathedral

Luminous sacred spaces

The church of San Nicolò l’Arena: the majesty of an unfinished beauty

A story of rebirth

The eagle-shaped city

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The Palazzo dei due mori

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The articulated interior spaces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The church and the monastery

The Franciscan convent

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

The Church of St. Benedict

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

A stone garden

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

A casket of precious works

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The church and the college

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

One city, three sites

The interior and works of art

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

A heritage of votive works

Geometry and wonder in civic architecture in the Baroque of the Val di Noto

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Carlo and the former Jesuit college

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The Duomo di San Giorgio (Cathedral of St. George)

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The city palace

City and nature

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The city within the city

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The Badia di Sant’Agata (St. Agatha’s Abbey)

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The freedom of worship and the Catholic Church’s role in the diffusion of Baroque

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

Religious architecture

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Benedictines’ library

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

Reconstruction after the earthquake

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

Verticality and dynamism of the façade of the Church of San Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The interior of the church: space and colour

Views denied, views conquered: the power of the devout Benedictines

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The two churches

The palace, the town, the church

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Altars, saints and sculptural works

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and the Church of San Nicolò l’Arena

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

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

The neo-Gothic seminary chapel: symbols, light and space

A unifying project for the city of Catania

St. Agatha and the candelore

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Church of St. Paul

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The new roads of the city

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

Piazza Duomo, the elephant fountain, the heart of the city

The expansion of space and changing reality

The senses tell the story of the Sanctuary Church of Santa Maria della Stella

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The art of maiolica

The Staircase of Angels

Barresi-Branciforte: the lords of the fiefdom and the modernisation of the town

The works in the church