Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

Caltagirone, Italy

Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte is a set of world-famous steps in Caltagirone. It was built in 1606 in order to connect the ancient part of Caltagirone to the new city built in the upper part. The staircase, over 130 meters long, is flanked by balcony buildings and is today one of the identifying monuments of the city.

In 1844, the staircase underwent modifications, among which the elimination of rest areas stands out, which results in a lower inclination.

Since 1954, the steps of Santa Maria del Monte have been entirely decorated with polychrome ceramic tiles, following the ancient local artisan tradition.

The figurative themes of the ceramics are floral or geometric, and represent the Arab, Norman, Angevin-Aragonese, Spanish, Renaissance, Baroque, eighteenth-century, nineteenth-century and contemporary styles.

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Scala Santa Maria del Monte 13, Caltagirone, Italy
See all sites in Caltagirone

Details

Founded: 1606
Category: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Late Baroque Town of Caltagirone (0,1 km)


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San Giorgio Cathedral (40,3 km)
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San Sebastiano Church (48,5 km)
San Giuseppe Church (40,5 km)
Duomo of San Giorgio (47,2 km)
Caltanissetta Cathedral (48,5 km)
Chiesa del Purgatorio (40 km)
Santa Maria delle Scale (40,1 km)

User Reviews

Nitura Alin (4 months ago)
Beautiful place!
Justin Vassallo (4 months ago)
Really long and impressive but overshadowed by the poor state of the area
Barbara Stevenson (6 months ago)
This is the most beautiful hill top town...full of wonders and not for the faint hearted because it IS HILLY!! And not to forget to mention the wonderful ceramics for which it is famous.
J E (6 months ago)
Great place but zero enforcement to wear face mask. 90% of the crowd do not wear or improper use of face mask. My wife and I have face mask and they looked at us as if we are sick. Police just standing and no action to enforce wearing of face mask.
Benjamin Kalish (12 months ago)
Beautiful staircase. What makes it special is the hand painted tiles on the vertical section of each stair. Each level has a different theme. We like to challenge the kids to find different characters on the way up. Be warned, these stairs are both higher and deeper than most modern staircases. There are a number of the ceramics studios on the side of the stairs for which Caltigarone is famous. We love going into these as well.
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