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:

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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

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Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

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