Caltagirone

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

hearing
Listening was important

With a little imagination you can return to 1800 when the church was still used by the nuns and you could listen to the liturgical celebrations.
Worshippers and the nuns attended mass. But there was a problem!
The nuns could not be seen by anyone because they lived in seclusion.
So how did they attend mass? Galleries, like a sort of box seat, were built with louvre blinds (grilles), behind which they could watch the celebrations without being seen.

touch
Touch to discover

Touching objects is one of our instincts and gives us an immediate connection to what is in front of us.
Touching the façade of Santa Chiara (St. Claire) would help us understand the material’s hardness, the stone’s temperature and the porosity of the surface (smooth or rough), giving us a great deal of information in a very short time.
When comparing this information with other objects, we uncover the differences between one material and another.
The maiolica tiles on the floor of Santa Chiara are colder and much smoother to the touch than the façade. The wood of the galleries, on the other hand, is warmer than the sandstone façade and the maiolica floor and balustrade.

sight
Antependium

The alter area hides a masterpiece: the antependium.
Situated in the front part of the altar, the artists took inspiration from Renaissance architecture for the decoration.
The result was a splendid scenographic effect, amplified by the use of mirrors and embellished with materials such as amber and wood covered with silver sheets, then worked to imitate gold.
The light that hits it creates wonderful reflections that illuminate the room. foto edificio a specchi

A new site for a new city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From International Gothic to present day

A colourful floor

Norman apses

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Discovering the mother church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The internal colours

The wall comes to life

The Maiolica of the staircase

Feasting in Palazzolo

A long reconstruction

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

A talking palace

The Burgos crucifix

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The two churches

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

A half-Baroque church

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Two illustrious patron saints

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Many owners, one palace

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

A feast only for Scicli

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

Between white and black

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

A new site for a new church

One city, two sites

A prominent church

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

Searching for colour

The city of museums

A majestic and luminous church

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A hall for the feasts

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Wonderful quick decorations

The church of Carmine

Some prestigious works

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A city in colour

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

Prominent façade

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The theatre of taste

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A museum to save a tradition

A square as the heart of the city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

New roads for Catania

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Some masterpieces

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A symbol for the town

The Staircase of Angels

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Feast days

The colours of the cathedral

The chocolate of Modica

The interior and its masterpieces