Description
The church of San Placido is a Baroque church in the Civita, a stone's throw from the cathedral and Palazzo Biscari, in the heart of Catania. It has a white facade with curving lines and, inside, a single nave full of marble and gilded stucco.
The facade, in white Taormina stone, is concave in the middle and ends on each side in two sharp points. Beside the door stand the statues of Saint Placidus and Saint Benedict, with smaller ones of Saints Scholastica and Gertrude; at the top is the bell tower with three bells.
In front of the church runs a wrought-iron railing with the coat of arms of Saint Benedict in the center. The railing is convex and the facade behind it concave: two opposite curves answering each other.
Inside, the nave is marked by fluted half columns. The four side altars hold large canvases by Michele Rapisardi and Giuseppe Napoli, among them Rapisardi's Sacrifice of Gideon; the high altar in colored marbles rests on marble cherubs. Above the entrance, the organ has a choir loft hidden behind a gilded grille.
This was the church of the Benedictine convent of San Placido. The cloister leans against the right wall of the church, with arcades on pillars; the convent houses the Casa della Cultura, a venue for exhibitions and events.
The site has a long history. In Roman times a temple of Bacchus stood here, and a Catania tradition held that this was the spot of the house where Saint Agatha, the city's patron saint, was born.
The convent was founded in the 15th century: the founding deed, dated December 4, 1420, bears the name of Paola di Lerida, a noblewoman of Catania who had been widowed. As early as 1409, according to one historian, Queen Blanche of Navarre, wife of King Martin, had donated sacred furnishings to the future nuns.
The earthquake of 1693 leveled the church. Its rebuilding was the wish of the only three nuns who survived: they entrusted the work to the architect Stefano Ittar, and the new church was consecrated in 1723.
The facade, in white Taormina stone, is concave in the middle and ends on each side in two sharp points. Beside the door stand the statues of Saint Placidus and Saint Benedict, with smaller ones of Saints Scholastica and Gertrude; at the top is the bell tower with three bells.
In front of the church runs a wrought-iron railing with the coat of arms of Saint Benedict in the center. The railing is convex and the facade behind it concave: two opposite curves answering each other.
Inside, the nave is marked by fluted half columns. The four side altars hold large canvases by Michele Rapisardi and Giuseppe Napoli, among them Rapisardi's Sacrifice of Gideon; the high altar in colored marbles rests on marble cherubs. Above the entrance, the organ has a choir loft hidden behind a gilded grille.
This was the church of the Benedictine convent of San Placido. The cloister leans against the right wall of the church, with arcades on pillars; the convent houses the Casa della Cultura, a venue for exhibitions and events.
The site has a long history. In Roman times a temple of Bacchus stood here, and a Catania tradition held that this was the spot of the house where Saint Agatha, the city's patron saint, was born.
The convent was founded in the 15th century: the founding deed, dated December 4, 1420, bears the name of Paola di Lerida, a noblewoman of Catania who had been widowed. As early as 1409, according to one historian, Queen Blanche of Navarre, wife of King Martin, had donated sacred furnishings to the future nuns.
The earthquake of 1693 leveled the church. Its rebuilding was the wish of the only three nuns who survived: they entrusted the work to the architect Stefano Ittar, and the new church was consecrated in 1723.