Caltagirone

We are in the public garden of Caltagirone, one of the largest in all of Sicily. You will find it behind the Museum of Ceramics, at the southern end of the historic center. Work began in 1846, on the area they called the "Silva di San Francesco". The design is by Filippo Basile, who was inspired by English parks. Look at the Art Nouveau gate at the entrance: marsh reeds, fish, water birds and reptiles. Along the avenues, terracotta vases from the Bongiovanni Vaccaro workshop and majolica by Giuseppe Di Bartolo. In the central square stands out the musical stage in Moorish style, covered with polychrome majolica. Further down is preserved a basin of the Flora Fountain, from the sixteenth century. The former municipal library, an Art Nouveau work by Ernesto Basile, now houses the International Museum of Nativity Scenes. And the former Carabinieri barracks, surrounded by a ceramic balustrade from the twentieth century, has become the Photography Museum.

Here we are on Santa Maria di Gesù Street, number 43: in front of you is Villa Patti. Everything began in the seventeenth century, when noble residences started to emerge around the medieval convent of Santa Maria di Gesù. A holiday resort district stretching about three kilometers, which grew between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. In the nineteenth century the site belonged to the aristocratic Patti family. Its present appearance is due to the architect from Calatanissetta, Gian Battista Nicastro. Look at the pointed arch windows and the battlements: Venetian Gothic, right here in Sicily. Around the building runs a ring of nineteenth-century benches, produced by the Vella Factory. In the park survive Mediterranean and exotic plants, some dating back to the eighteenth century. A 2015 restoration, funded by European money, brought to light the historical pathways of the garden. Today the villa is municipal property and houses the Museum of Historic Villas of Calatanissetta and Sicily.

Here we are in front of Santa Maria di Gesù, the Catholic parish church of Caltagirone. Attention: do not confuse it with the former church of Gesù, the one belonging to the Jesuits, which is located in another area of the city. Everything began at the beginning of the sixteenth century, at the will of the Franciscan blessed Matteo d'Agrigento. Next to it, the former monastery preserves a courtyard with frescoes. Then came the earthquake of 1693: serious damage, and the reconstruction brought a new bell tower. Raise your gaze: its dome shines with colored majolica. At the end of the nineteenth century the church and monastery were suppressed, but in 1939 the monks returned. Inside, Bernardino Bongiovanni frescoed a gallery of Franciscan saints. A side altar houses the Madonna della Catena sculpted by Antonello Gagini in 1538. On the main altar, the altarpiece from 1847 by Francesco Vaccaro shows Saint Francis delivering the rule to Saint Clare. There is also a Nativity by Antonio Balistreri. And here rest various Franciscan priests considered venerable.

Stop for a moment: in front of you stands the Cathedral of San Giuliano, seat of the diocese of Caltagirone. But be careful: before 1816 these souls depended on Syracuse. The earthquake of 1693 was a deep wound: approximately 800 deaths out of 12,339 inhabitants. Half of the city's buildings were irreparable. San Giuliano and San Giacomo, the patron saint's church, ended up in ruins. Carmelites, Dominicans, Frati Bene Fratelli, and Crociferi lost churches and residences. Then came the turning point: King Ferdinand asked Pope Pius VII twice to break up the vast Syracusan diocese. On September 12, 1816, the bull Romanus Pontifex created the diocese. San Giuliano, a collegiate church since 1631, was first downgraded to a parish and then promoted to cathedral. The first bishop was Gaetano Trigona and Parisi. And in 2010, here inside, Calogero Peri was the first bishop consecrated in this cathedral.

Lift your gaze: that tower-like drum dominates the entire urban panorama, and you would think the church is large. It is not at all. We are in 1761: here a church is being built together with a monastery of Franciscan nuns, right where an older one already existed. The design is attributed to architect Francesco Battaglia. The work dragged on for about twenty years, and the façade remained unfinished. Inside, the space is central: an irregular octagon, with chapels on the sides and the choir above the entrance. A family resemblance to the nearby church of the Santissimo Salvatore. And beneath the roof ran a loggia of windows: from there the nuns observed the city. Then 1866: with the suppressive laws, church and monastery ended up under municipal control.

The convent of the Carmelites in Caltagirone dates back to the first half of the 14th century — it is cited in the oldest surviving Capitular Acts of the Order from 1452, where it already appears as the 12th Carmelite convent in Sicily. The friars dedicated the church to Mary Most Holy of the Annunciation of the Mount, to distinguish it from another church dedicated to the Annunciation that originally belonged to the Benedictine Nuns. After the 1693 earthquake, the church and convent were restored — on April 29, 1703 they hosted the Capitular Fathers of the Order, then again in 1725 and in 1838, when it was designated as the seat of Studies of Philosophy and Arts. Until 1725 it belonged to the Province of Sant'Alberto, then passed to the Congregation of the Stairway of Paradise. With the law suppressing religious orders of July 7, 1866, the Carmelites were expelled from the convent. Rebuilt after the bombings of 1943, the former convent was converted into an elementary school. Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is still deeply felt today by the people of Caltagirone, who celebrate her feast with great solemnity every July 16.

Siete davanti alla cattedrale più importante di Caltagirone, dedicata a San Giuliano, martire del Tresecolo. Le sue origini risalgono al periodo normanno, intorno all'Ulfmo secolo, quando i conquistatori cristiani trasformarono radicalmente il volto della città. Distrutta dal devastante terremoto del 1693, fu completamente ricostruita in stile barocco siciliano, lo stesso che ridisegnò tutta la Val di Noto. Al suo interno custodisce opere d'arte preziose accumulate nei secoli, testimonianza silenziosa di una città che sapeva sempre rinascere dalle macerie, più bella di prima.

Siete davanti a una delle chiese più antiche di Caltagirone, fondata dai frati francescani nel tretisto secolo. Ma c'è qualcosa che pochi sanno. Durante il devastante terremoto del 1693, che rase al suolo buona parte della Sicilia orientale, questa chiesa fu completamente ricostruita nello stile barocco siciliano, che ancora oggi ammiriamo. Guardate la facciata. Ogni dettaglio racconta la rinascita di un'intera città. Dentro si conservano opere d'arte preziose, testimoni silenziosi di secoli di devozione popolare. Caltagirone risorse più bella di prima, e questa chiesa ne è uno dei simboli più eloquenti.

Siete davanti a una delle chiese più antiche di Caltagirone, eretta in onore di San Giacomo Apostolo già nel periodo normanno. Quello che pochi sanno è che per secoli ospitò una delle confraternite più influenti della città, che organizzava processioni così solenni da attirare pellegrini da tutta la Sicilia. Osservate la facciata. Nonostante i rifacimenti barocchi, conserva tracce di un passato medievale che affiora tra le pietre. Ogni dettaglio architettonico racconta stratificazioni di devozione, potere e arte che hanno plasmato l'identità di questa straordinaria città della ceramica.

Il monumentale tindaro di Igor Mithoraj, un'opera in bronzo alta oltre due metri, domina la sommità della scala di Santa Maria del Monte. Il tindaro è arrivato a Caltagirone dopo un prestito gratuito di un anno concesso dall'Atelier Mithoraj. L'opera rappresenta un volto frammentato, tipico dello stile di Mithoraj, ed è stata esposta precedentemente all'interno dell'Orecchio di Dionisio a Siracusa. Per omaggiare la tradizione ceramica di Caltagirone, l'Atelier Mithoraj ha previsto anche l'allestimento di una mostra di opere inedite in terracotta dell'artista, all'interno del Museo dell'Excarcere Borbonico.