Catania

The Staircase of Angels

The most famous architectural element of the entire monastic complex is the Scala degli Angeli (staircase of the angels). The majestic main entrance leading into the church was completed in 1712 and is a characteristic example of Sicilian Baroque.
The staircase of the angels, so called because of the sculptures depicting the heavenly creatures, is made of marble stucco, a less valuable material than marble but one cleverly used to highlight the opulence of the church.
For this reason, everything outside the entrance portal of the church had to be less valuable, so as not to distract the worshippers from their prayers. With its convexity, concavity, stucco and ellipses, the staircase reflects the dynamics of Baroque architecture.
It was built to connect the church floor to street level, which was seven metres lower.
The floor composed of two-tone marble slabs is very old and stylistically in contrast to the exuberant Baroque staircase. The portal, by an unknown artist, dates back to 1708. It is entirely carved in wood, with 8 panels depicting scenes from the life of St. Benedict.

The church and the monastery

The works in the church

The Antonino Uccello Birthplace Museum

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

A unifying project for the city of Catania

The new roads of the city

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The senses tell about Palazzo Trigona

The Church of St. Julian on Via dei Crociferi

The Franciscan convent

The Madonna dei Conadomini and the art of devotion

The Infiorata of Noto, a modern tradition

Palazzo Zacco, a balance between sobriety and decoration

The eagle-shaped city

Rebirth and urban planning of the city of Noto

Palazzo Trigona di Canicarao

The city of Modica, a balance between nature and urbanism

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

Militello: The story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Church of St. Francis

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

Fountain of the Nymph Zizza: public water in the town

The two churches

Baroque creativity: recurring themes

One city, three sites

The art of maiolica

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

A casket of precious works

City and nature

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Church of Madonna della Stella

The palace, the town, the church

The senses tell the Church of San Michele

The Monastery of the Benedictine nuns

Unusual iconographies: the Burgos crucifix

A stone garden

The smallest Greek theatre in the world

The church and the college

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Paolo

Scenography and devotion for St. Agatha

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Beneventano

The city within the city

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

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

Akrai and Syracuse: an unbreakable bond

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The Church of St. Benedict

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

A story of rebirth

Baroque and the loss of balance in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Church of St. Mary of the Mountain

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Ducezio

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

The interiors: diffused light and Byzantine relics

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

The Church of St. Paul

The expansion of space and changing reality

Palazzo della Cancelleria: from former stable to the Nicastro family

A heritage of votive works

Virtuosity, decorations and altars

The interior of the church: space and colour

The city palace

Scenography, lights and colours of the cathedral

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

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

The illusion of light and the decorative splendour

The Monte delle Prestanze in the new city layout

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of San Giorgio

Scicli, the city of Baroque scenery

Religious architecture

San Domenico and Gagliardi’s work

A new site for the church of San Giorgio

The Staircase of Angels

The beginning of an authentic Baroque conception

A compromise between Neoclassicism and Baroque

Luminous sacred spaces

The senses tell of Palazzo della Cancelleria

The Palazzo dei due mori

The Benedictines’ library

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

The casket of austerity under the great dome

Expansion, spatiality and light in the church of San Domenico

Madonna of the Militia: a singular warrior virgin

The senses tell about Palazzo Zacco

St. Agatha and the candelore

Altars, saints and sculptural works

The senses tell of the Cathedral of San Pietro

The senses tell the Church of San Domenico

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The dynamics of the Church of San Michele

Expanded spaces, stucco and colourful lights

Palazzo Trigona: a building with a complex shape

The articulated interior spaces

Majestic exteriors, grandiose interiors

Reconstruction after the earthquake

From the end of the world to rebirth from the rubble

The interior and works of art

The triumph of Baroque: expansion of spaces

Art in the cathedral