Catania

Wonderful quick decorations

A strike of colour leaves you breathless as you enter the church of San Benedetto (St. Benedict) on Via dei Crociferi.
The paintings that decorate the interior have a timeless beauty.
The painter Giovanni Tuccari was commissioned to fresco the church. He completed the entire painting series in just three years (1726-1729). At the centre of the vault is the triumph of St. Benedict accompanied by his sister, St. Scholastica, and Pope Gregory I. At the sides, Tuccari completed the work and painted some scenes from the saint’s life: him welcoming St. Maurus and St. Placidus, two Benedictine saints, and on another, Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, a barbarian population, kneels before him.
To complete the decoration, there is a series of female figures above the windows, the allegories of virtues : the first is prudence, a woman depicted near a marble column, a symbol of fortress; followed by temperance, faith, hope and splendid charity, a woman nursing her own baby and two others.
The depictions are full of figures, so the spectator becomes part of the scene, overwhelmed by the events. This effect and ability to involve the observer is all down to the artist. Using a play on light and shadow, Giovanni Tuccari : bestows movement and vitality upon the scenes. At the same time this painting technique allowed him to work extremely quickly; he completed the work in just three years.

The Staircase of Angels

A half-Baroque church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A city in colour

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Wonderful quick decorations

A square as the heart of the city

A new site for a new city

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

A new site for a new church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The internal colours

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

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

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

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

Searching for colour

The colours of the cathedral

A colourful floor

Feast days

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Many owners, one palace

Some prestigious works

The Maiolica of the staircase

A symbol for the town

A feast only for Scicli

New roads for Catania

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The chocolate of Modica

Norman apses

Feasting in Palazzolo

Between white and black

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A small room with a golden entrance

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The city of museums

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

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

From International Gothic to present day

The two churches

A triumph of colour

Some masterpieces

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A prominent church

A miniature city

The interior and its masterpieces

The theatre of taste

Two illustrious patron saints

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A talking palace

The wall comes to life

An eagle-shaped city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A long reconstruction

Prominent façade

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A museum to save a tradition

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Discovering the mother church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, two sites