Modica

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The interior of the church is clearly different to the austere exterior.ingresso verso abside
Though the architectural forms are more sober than in other Baroque churches, the decorations are sumptuous and cover the entire surface of the intradoses of the vaults, concentrated in the apse area.
dettaglio colonna marmo verdeThe interior space is divided into three naves marked by fourteen columns with Corinthian capitals and arcades leading to the apse, the central point of the church.
The vault of the central nave is decorated with sixteen painted medallions and frescoes depicting stories from the Old Testament by Gian Battista and Stefano Ragazzi, completed in 1780.
dett pavimentoThe side naves are defined by niches and altars luxuriously decorated with precious materials and separated by coupled columns , some in marble, others decorated in stucco. A pleasant lighting effect is created in this area thanks to the soft light entering from the lunette windows, which are also decorated on the inside.
The 1864 floor is made up of polychrome marble, white marble and black pietra pece where geometric designs and curvilinear decorations alternate with those of the vault. Also in this case, the different use of polished and opaque materials causes light to be reflected in different ways, thus creating multiple perceptions of the room in a continuous play of illusory effects.

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

The eagle-shaped city

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

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

The palace, the town, the church

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

The works in the church

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

A heritage of votive works

The church and the monastery

The Palazzo dei due mori

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The city palace

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

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

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

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

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

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

The articulated interior spaces

One city, three sites

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

The new roads of the city

Religious architecture

The art of maiolica

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

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

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The Benedictines’ library

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The interior and works of art

The Franciscan convent

Art in the cathedral

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

Reconstruction after the earthquake

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

The Church of St. Paul

City and nature

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The church and the college

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

Luminous sacred spaces

The Church of St. Benedict

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The Church of St. Francis

The city within the city

The two churches

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

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

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

St. Agatha and the candelore

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

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

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

The Church of Madonna della Stella

Altars, saints and sculptural works

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The Staircase of Angels

A casket of precious works

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

The casket of austerity under the great dome

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

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

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

A stone garden

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

A story of rebirth

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