San Benedetto Church, Catania, Italy

Dedicated to St. Benedict of Nursia, the church of San Benedetto was built from April 1334, then it was destroyed by 1693 Sicily earthquake. The church and the monastery were rebuilt between 1708 and 1763 and Giovanni Battista Vaccarini was one of the main architects.

The church was also damaged by bombing in World War II and later restored by the architect Armand Dillon.

Its most famous feature is the Angel's Staircase, a marble entrance stair decorated with statues of angels and surrounded by a wrought iron railings. The entrance door, in wood, has panels with Stories of St. Benedict.

The interior, with a single nave, is home to frescoes by Sebastiano Lo Monaco, Giovanni Tuccari and Matteo Desiderato. The vault and semi-dome were painted Giovanni Tuccari with the History of Saint Benedict and six Allegories surrounding the Triumph of Saint Benedict. The Saint is represented in his traditional iconography, in a festive and cheerful scenario. The high altar is in polychrome marble with hardstone intarsia and bronze panels.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Italy

User Reviews

Viktória Rébék-Nagy (3 years ago)
The price (6 euros) is a bit much for this. They made me cover my shoulders for the church, it was totally okay for me, then an older lady arrived in a sleeveless top. So I don't know. Discrimination?

Simon (3 years ago)
Nice church, but not really worth the 6€ entrance in my opinion.

Arthit Yodyunyong (5 years ago)
Not that the church's not beautiful but personally I think the ticket's too expensive. It was 6 € and you can visit the church and see a small archaeological part. The frescoes featured you can see for free in many churches on Sicily.

bernadette mccluskey (5 years ago)
Beautiful

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright csakkarin

Historic Site of the week

Doune Castle

Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert"s stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany"s son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house.

In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn"s rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century.

San Benedetto Church

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Doune Castle