From the sea, the palace shows a view of decorated balconies and
flowered pilasters. Decorative vestments, lava basements. It is a
design which involved many carvers and decorators who practiced
their skills in 18th century Catania. Here Battaglia distanced his work
from the decoration of the Amato’s , net to which he had done his
early work. The airy gallery divided among twin columns, builds itself
on the bank of the walls, lays out flat surfaces and smooth trunks,
these are crisp, clean structures, articulate in terms of rhythm and
landscape. Without straining toward a cold, formal composition,
Battaglia demonstrates the genuineness, if not the vigor, of his
classical inclinations. The palace reached its greatest splendor under
Prince Ignazio V, an eclectic man, a man passionate about art,
literature and archeology, and one of the most significant figures in
the cultural life of Catania in the mid-1700s.
The Prince did not limit himself to dictating his needs to the architect,
but the himself proposed models and architectural solutions inspired
by what he saw on his travels. Ignazio V, interested in the cultural
progress of the city, had built a private theater with two rows of boxseats . He conceded this theatre to the Opera of Catania while waiting
for the public one to be completed, he paid for the seats reserved for
himself. But it is perhaps as an archeologist that Ignazio V is bestremembered in Catania. Riedesel and Brydone personally assisted in
the work that, under his direction, brought to light the ancient
amphitheater. Ignazio V was given the job of supervising the
archeological excavations of Val Demone and Val di Noto in eastern
Sicily. He also dedicated a great deal of energy to the construction
and organization of the museum which would be worthy of the
archeological harvest he reaped from digs he himself had directed
(1746). The large rooms of the museum, decorated with competence
had been praised in the diaries of numerous European scholars of the
1700s who came to visit him. The collection includes not only ancient
objects such as vases, medallions, cameos and statues, but also a
collection pertaining to Sicilian history (armors, clothings, toys), as
well as a private natural history collection.
Here one finds, for example, under the name of “Fruits of Etna”
samples of lava, of sulphur etc…
Today the central courtyard of the palace is surrounded by
constructions of various epochs and is dominated by the central
double spiral staircase which leads into the most important part of the
edifice.
Borgia with its double pairs of columns. Immediately after, you will
find the convent of San Benedetto on the right-hand side. If you
walk through the archway, you can see to the left the baroque façade
of the church of San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata. On the right
corner of Via Vittorio Emanuele, you will find the birthplace of
Vincenzo Bellini with an integrated museum.
Via Crociferi, called Via Sacra in the Roman era, is today
masterpiece of Sicilian and European Baroque enough to be
recognized as UNESCO World Heritage, one of the most important
street in Catania. Although the different reconstructions which it
was subject through the ages, it has preserved its feature of being
assembling places of worship: it was the site of temples in the
Roman and Byzantine periods and today is the cradle of four of the
most beautiful baroque churches into the whole Sicily.
All churches hide behind the austerity of the facades the splendor of
frescoes and decorations, giving to the visitor a sense of peace
difficult to find elsewhere. The entrance to the street is the arch of
St. Benedict, that connects the big and small abbey since 1704, and
according to legend was built in one night.
According to traditions, the current name of the street “Crociferi” is
due to the presence of the church of Crociferi Fathers’ order, while
other sources attribute it to the period of the Spanish domination,
connecting the term “Crociferi” to “Crucifix”, therefore relating it to
the predominant presence of ecclesiastical buildings. The Church of
St. Benedict, situated on via Crociferi, is one of the most beautiful
Sicilian baroque churches, one of the most important of the city of
Catania and Sicily, and it is also considered one of the most
beautiful European baroque.
VIA DEI CROCIFERI
The Via dei Crociferi extends from the Convent Crociferi to the
church of San Francesco d'Assisi all'Immacolata at the Piazza San
Francesco d'Assisi. The entire street is lined with churches from the
18th Century. Coming from the Convento dei Crociferi you will first
reach the church of San Giuliano, with its huge dome and the
projecting façade on the left side. Directly opposite is the Jesuit
College of Angelo Italia from the 18th Century. Its front façade with 7
axes is directly connected to the façade of the church of San Francesco
Tourist information Office
Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 172 -95131 Catania
Tel. +39.095.742.5573
Fax: +39.095.742.5515
GPS coordinates: 37.5029560237711, 15.088611245155334
E mail: bureau.turismo@comune.catania.it
Opening from Monday to Saturday: 8:00-18:30
CATANIA BAROCCA
Via dei Crociferi
Just arrived in Catania, the most fashinating
thing is the baroque style and Catania is rich
in baroque.
While walking around the old city centre,
you cannot help but keeping your head up.
The most important baroque monuments are:
the church of St. Nicolò L’Arena, the
Benedictine monastery, the dreamy Biscari
Palace and the amazing “via dei Crociferi”.
THE BENEDICTINE MONASTERY
The Benedictine Monastery of Catania was founded in 1558 by monks
cassinesi.In the seventeenth century its structure was changed by two
tragical events: the terrible lava flow of 1669 and the catastrophic
earthquake of 1693. In March 1669, Etna starts its eruption. Casting
reaches the walls of the city around the end of April, leading up to the
walls of the century monastery. The city had been using defence walls
to divert the river of fire. The monastery is saved, but not the church
attached to it, which is shattered by the arrival of the casting. In 1687
began the reconstruction of the church attached. The Monastery of the
sixteenth century consisted of a basement, used as a cellar and storage
of food and cuisine; and two floors used to house the monks' cells, the
chapter, the refectory, the library and the parlour as well as the cloister
dei Marmi. In the night between 10 and 11 January 1693 Catania
trembles. The earthquake of 1693 is considered one of the most
devastating natural disasters in eastern Sicily: the Val di Noto is razed.
According to experts the tremors reached magnitude 7.7 on the
Richter scale. In the aftermath of the earthquake the city is destroyed
and most of the people of Catania is buried under the rubble
.Monastery of the sixteenth century remains intact basement and the
first floor. The cloister remain erected 14 columns other fall down and
break. Since 1702 began the reconstruction and the Monastery is
repopulated by monks from other monasteries. Larger than the plant
primeval: the Cloister dei Marmi is added to the Cloister of Levante,
with the garden and the Caffeaos in eclectic style, and the north with
the spaces to day life and collective life of the monks: the library, the
kitchens, the 'wing of the novitiate, the refectory, the chorus of night.
It exploits the lava bench to achieve the two roof gardens, the
Botanical Gardens and the garden of the Novices. The church of St.
Nicholas Arena, adjacent to the new monastic complex remains
unfinished in the main façade. Larger, decorated, altered, the
monastery became one of the largest monasteries in Europe, second,
between those of the Benedictine order, only to that of Mafra in
Portugal. Starting from 1868 most of the spaces were rearranged for
“civil” uses. These were mainly schools, including the most famous
was the Regio Istituto Carlo Gemmellaro, but is also allocated to the
Military Barracks and the Astrophysical Observatory with the
laboratory of Meteorology and Geodynamics. The new uses caused
a series of profound changes that the Monastery suffered despite its
recognition, the Unification of Italy, as a National Monument
erased most of the frescoes, divided the hallways, roofs, loft,
introduced accretions to make room for offices, gyms, latrines. The
Botanical Garden of almost 5 acres is divided up to house the
pavilions of the new hospital dedicated to the king of Italy, Vittorio
Emanuele. The Church of St. Nicholas who lives his last moment of
glory with the Rector Della Marra, appointed personally by Cardinal
Dusmet, becomes good of worship then in use of the City of
Catania. The sacristy, also built by Vaccarini, welcomes Shrine
dedicated to the fallen of the two wars. Only the beautiful monastic
library is spared. The book collection of the monks, which includes
gorgeous herbaria, sixteenth and illuminated bibles, plus the
collections of other orders abolished and private. “The Public
United Libraries Ursino Recupero” today are made up of three main
areas: the reading room built inside the museum of the
Benedictines, the circular conference room, and the sumptuous Sala
Vaccarini. In 1977 as part of the redevelopment of the historic
center of the city, the city of Catania gives the Benedictine
Monastery at the University of Catania, which destines him to the
seat of the historical Faculty of Humanities. Since 2002 it becomes
a World Heritage Site that UNESCO identifies as a representative of
the late baroque of southeastern Sicily.
churches in Europe. Famous for its Meridian and for its organ with 2378
pipes. It is now used for concerts and local events.
BISCARI PALACE
Palazzo Biscari the most magnificent private building in Catania, is
unique in terms of structure, outlay and decoration. It is composed of
seven hundred rooms, it is located in the old quarter of Catania behind
the popular town area, overlooking the port on the famous marina
arches, where train still passes. Up until the 1920s the ocean water
reached the precipitous bastions. Eventually, the water’s edge retired
and after a second intervention the water moved far away from the
palace, which became the elegant and the desired sentinel of Catania.
The heart of the palace is formed by its halls restored after the 1991
earthquake. The paintings and frescoes are also restored to their original
condition. To the right of the courtyard, instead, there are other private
apartments where eleven members of the family reside.
THE CHURCH OF St. NICOLA L’ARENA
The original construction much smaller than the present monastery,
changed a lot because of two major natural disasters.
The first is the eruption of 1669 when the “lava” hit the north-west
side of the monastery and destroyed the church. After the
earthquake of 1693, it was slowly rebuilt by Stefano Ittar and
Francesco Battaglia. Still today it is one of the largest catholic
After the earthquake of 1693 destroyed nearly the entire city, Prince
Ignazio Paternò Castello, obtained permission from the deputy general
Giuseppe Lanza, duke of Camastra, to build the new palace on the
ramparts of the 15th century walls. The best architects in Catania at that
time, Alonzo Di Benedetto, Girolamo Palazzotto, Francesco Battaglia
and his son Antonino, participated in the construction, which lasted
more than a century. At the beginning of the 1700s the building had the
shape of a trapezoid, centered upon a large courtyard to which access
was gained by a richly decorated doorway on top of which stood the
four-quartered arms of nobility. During the first decade of the century
Antonino Amato finished the decoration of the seaside façade.