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.

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

The Franciscan convent

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

The palace, the town, the church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The two churches

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

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

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

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

The interior of the church: space and colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The Church of St. Francis

The articulated interior spaces

The new roads of the city

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

The Church of St. Paul

The art of maiolica

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

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

One city, three sites

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

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

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

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

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

A stone garden

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The expansion of space and changing reality

The Church of St. Benedict

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Religious architecture

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

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

Reconstruction after the earthquake

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The works in the church

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

St. Agatha and the candelore

City and nature

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

A story of rebirth

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

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

The city palace

The eagle-shaped city

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Benedictines’ library

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

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

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The city within the city

The casket of austerity under the great dome

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

The church and the college

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The church and the monastery

The Palazzo dei due mori

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The Staircase of Angels

Art in the cathedral

The interior and works of art

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

A casket of precious works

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

A heritage of votive works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo