Catania

The Staircase of Angels

The entrance to the wonderful church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) is up the scala degli angeli (staircase of angels).
It was built to solve the problem of connecting the church to the street level, which is 7 metres lower. The staircase is one of the most characteristic examples of Sicilian Baroque. Its uniqueness, and name, is due to the sculptures of angels in marble stucco , a less valuable material than marble. It is no coincidence that this poor material was also used to highlight the church interior.
For the same reason it was left entirely white with a few golden decorations, so that the triumph of colour in the frescoes was even more evident and the contrast even greater.
Everything outside the church had to be made of less valuable materials. In fact, the main altar, the focus of the worshippers’ attention, was made of pure gold and silver.
Worshippers were to have no distractions; they would have had a clear idea of what the centre of their attention should have been: the altar, where religious service took place.

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Discovering the mother church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Many owners, one palace

New roads for Catania

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Baroque town by the sea

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Some prestigious works

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A long reconstruction

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A feast only for Scicli

A symbol for the town

The chocolate of Modica

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The disastrous earthquake

A miniature city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A half-Baroque church

The two churches

Between white and black

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

From International Gothic to present day

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Two illustrious patron saints

Some masterpieces

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A hall for the feasts

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The Staircase of Angels

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A prominent church

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

One city, three sites

The church of Carmine

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The internal colours

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

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

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Feasting in Palazzolo

Searching for colour

The colours of the cathedral

A majestic and luminous church

Feast days

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

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

The wall comes to life

A talking palace

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

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

Norman apses

The Burgos crucifix

An eagle-shaped city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A museum to save a tradition

Wonderful quick decorations

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

A triumph of colour

The city of museums

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci