Caltagirone

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James) is one of the most important and heartfelt festivals in Caltagirone.
It is dedicated to the patron saint and lasts four days.
The festivities begin on the 23rd of July with fireworks and a concert. This is followed between the 24th and 25th by the illumination of the staircase and the majestic procession from San Giacomo to the town hall. The first official illumination was in 1703. On the evening of the 31st, the Relics and the Simulacrum of St. James are carried in procession and can be admired until the 1st of August when they are returned to the church.
The saint’s statue is carried around the entire town and always takes the same route. The festival has very ancient origins; it began in 1090!
It has been celebrated every year since. Over the centuries, things have inevitably changed, but not the spirit of the participants.

A colourful floor

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Two illustrious patron saints

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A feast only for Scicli

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A prominent church

Some masterpieces

Wonderful quick decorations

Prominent façade

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A triumph of colour

A majestic and luminous church

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

An eagle-shaped city

From International Gothic to present day

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

A hall for the feasts

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

The Baroque town by the sea

New roads for Catania

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Searching for colour

The Burgos crucifix

One city, three sites

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

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

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

The internal colours

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A miniature city

Norman apses

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

A talking palace

A city in colour

A new site for a new church

The church of Carmine

A long reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

A square as the heart of the city

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A small room with a golden entrance

Discovering the mother church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The colours of the cathedral

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

Some prestigious works

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The chocolate of Modica

The theatre of taste

Between white and black

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

A half-Baroque church

One city, two sites

The two churches

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The wall comes to life