I enjoyed a sense of Sicilian baroque theatre as I slowly wondered Catania’s cathedral earlier this year.
Dedicated to Saint Agata, the revered patron saint of Catania and built by the famed Vaccarini in the early 18th century after the devastation of the 1693 earthquake it sits on the grand Piazza del Duomo.
Every side of the piazza is lined with flat facades, both restrained and dramatic, all finished with lava stone and limestone yet, it is the city’s beloved cathedral which takes centre stage in Piazza del Duomo.
The sombre baroque façade, the elaborate iron gates, the voluminous cupola, the soaring clock tower and the draped stage curtains, which hang inside the entry doors, all echo Sicilian Baroque.
The Façade:
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Complete with 3 orders of Corinthian granite columns, supposedly raided from the town’s Roman amphitheatre, a niche for the beloved Saint Agata and various other venerated saints, the duomo stands on the southern edge of the piazza.
The Curtains and the Elaborate Iron Gates:
When leaving the huge cool interior beneath the deep fringed curtains framing the wooden entry doors, the city’s grand masterpiece, the Piazza del Duomo is glimpsed through the elaborate iron gates guarded by Saints Euplius and Birillus.
The Cupola:
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With perfect form and finished in Sicilian Baroque excess and striped in lava and limestone Antonio Battaglia’s masterpiece, takes backstage a little.
The Clock Tower:
This gem, the work of Carmelo Sciuto Patti seems a strange addition, yet, it does fit with the baroque stage set. Fitted with a huge bell it also sits a little backstage.
Salve,
Suzanne
