CALTAGIRONE
sicilia
Caltagirone, nicknamed "The Queen of the Mountains", is a town in the province of Catania. Situated in the central Sicily, it is famous for the craft production of pottery and terracotta wares, developed in the centuries since the Arab period. It is rich of monuments like churches, valuable palaces and XVIII-century villas; for the exceptional value of its monumental heritage it is part of the towns of the Val di Noto declared UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sites: Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, Church of Santa Maria del Monte, Church of San Bonaventura, Basilica of San Giacomo, Cathedral of San Giuliano, Civic Museums Luigi Sturzo, Regional Pottery Museum, Public Garden, Nativity Scenes.
Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte
The splendid "Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte" is a unique staircase, totally covered in painted pottery tiles. This breathtaking staircase with 142 steps, that connects the high part of the city to the low part, is the center of many cultural events in Caltagirone. Between the months of May and June, the staircase is completely covered with flowers, which create a beautiful series of geometric patterns that climb up the staircase. On the nights of July 24th and 25th in honor of San Giacomo, the town Patron Saint, thousands of lanterns are used to decorate the staircase, that create an even more spectacular effect. The staircase is illuminated again for the solemnity of Maria SS. del Ponte on August 14th and 15th.
Church of Santa Maria del Monte
In the top of the staircase there is the Church of Santa Maria del Monte, ancient seat of the religious power. It was built around 1100 and entirely rebuilt in XVIII century, after the destructive earthquake of 1693. The inside, with basilical plan, keeps, in the main altar, a very valuable "Madonna di Conadomini", a Byzantine opera dating to the XIII century, as well as a statue of the "Madonna della Purificazione" (Our Lady of the Purification), attributed to Domenico Gagini.
Church of San Bonaventura
The Church of San Bonaventura was erected in the first half of the XVII century and is, without doubt, one of the richest of art works among the churches of Caltagirone. Rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693, the inside arouses amazement for the beauty of the frescoes, paintings, statues and stuccos.
Basilica of San Giacomo
The Basilica of San Giacomo, Co-Patron Saint of the town, was built in 1090 by Count Ruggero and, after, more time reconstructed. In its inside there is the relic of the San Giacomo Maggiore Apostolo's arm, kept in a silver box, decorated with scenes of the Saint's life and little statues of the Apostles.
Cathedral of San Giuliano
Consecrated to San Giuliano, the Cathedral was built in the Norman period and after was object of various modifications and restore works between the end of XVI and the beginning of XVII century. Since the 1300 it was one of the richest church of the town. The main facade, realized in the beginning of the XX century in liberty-flowers style, sacrified for the following constructions in front, is dominated by the splendid and imposing dome, covered with local pottery, and the bell tower. The inside has a cross plan divided with columns. The vault is enriched with a series of frescoes, dating to 1862.
Civic Museums Luigi Sturzo
The Civic Museums Luigi Sturzo are a complex of museums housed in the building of the ex Bourbon Prison, divided in three sections: archaeological section, art gallery and historical collection.
Regional Pottery Museum
The Regional Pottery Museum of Caltagirone exhibits a very valuable collection of pottery and majolica, around 2500 finds, that give to visitor a vision nearly complete of the story of this kind of manufactured article and the evolution of this art. The itinerary of access is in Via Roma, the ancient main street Maria Carolina, opened in the XVIII century to create a connection between the old part of the town and the new zone of Santa Maria del Gesù. The route of Via Roma, that flanked the Public Garden, is delimited by a balustrade with refined decorations in majolica that see the visitor to the so-named "Teatrino" (Little Theatre), a terrace-staircase decorated with pottery from the XVIII century; in its top there is the Regional Pottery Museum.
Public Garden
At the back of the Regional Pottery Museum there is the Public Garden; it is possible enter from the "Teatrino", by two stairs, from Via Roma, where there is the main entrance, beside the Politeama Theatre, and from the Viale Principessa Maria Josè. The garden, on the model of the English gardens, is a work of the architect G. B. Filippo Basile. The achievement of a municipal garden on the area so-named "Silva di San Francesco", partially occupied with a little hill, began in 1846. In the inside, along the paths, there are pots in terracotta and majolica. In the central large square there is an imposing musical box in Moorish style with covering polychrome majolica. In the lower part we can admire one XVI-century fountain by the Florentine sculptor and architect Camillo Camilli.
Nativity Scenes
The first Nativity Scene that we remember goes back to the Christmas of 1223. San Francesco asked to the inhabitants of Greccio, a little town in Lazio, to perform a living nativity scene. Since that time, the people were replaced with little statues in terracotta, plaster or depicted wood, and the custom spread in many Italian region to commemorate the coming of Jesus. In Caltagirone, the first examples of statues in pottery for nativity scene probably go back to the Middle Ages. In the XVIII century there were a real category of craftsmen that produced statues of the Holy Family and the Saints for Nativity Scenes. The secret of the production of Caltagirone must be researched, not only in the superlative technique, but also in the capacity to be mirror of one's own period, of a real society, essentially peasant, of which it had documented, with the passing of the years, the changes in the customs, actions, utensils and architecture. The Nativity Scene of Caltagirone is simple, according with its Franciscan origins.
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