Militello in Val di Catania - Militello in Val di Catania

Militello in Val di Catania is a city of Sicily.

To know

In addition to being awarded the title of UNESCO World Heritage, Militello is part of the Most beautiful villages in Italy.

Geographical notes

Militello is about 40 km from Catania is Caltagirone.

Background

Militello in Val di Catania thanks to its architectural masterpieces was included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Val di Noto in 2002 together with Catania, Scicli, Known, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone is Palazzolo Acreide.

How to orient yourself

The main street of the city where people meet especially on weekends to stroll is Corso Umberto I.

How to get

By plane

• 37.46666715.0638891 Catania airport (Catania Fontanarossa Airport "Vincenzo Bellini". IATA: CTA), Via Fontanarossa, 20, Fontanarossa, ☎ 39 0957239111. 00:00-24:00. Airport for national and international flights.  
• 36.99166714.6069442 Comiso airport (Pio La Torre Airport, IATA: CIY), ☎ 39 0932 961467, @[email protected]. Airport converted for civilian use, it began flight operations in 2013 and is served by some low-cost carriers.

From the airport of Catania in Catania center it is possible to use the city bus AMT- "Alibus", every 20 minutes from 5:00 to midnight for € 4.00. From Catania (Via Archimede, near the railway station) it is possible to take the company of Interbus (Etna Trasporti, Segesta) to Militello in Val di Catania (Via Ugo La Malfa). Duration: 1:05 hours.  

By car

From Catania with the continue in the direction , then at the roundabout take the Strada Statale Ragusana, until you reach the Jazzotto junction, continuing on the (Strada Statale di Palagonia) up to Militello in Val di Catania.

From Militello in Val di Catania taking the Provincial Road of the SP 28ii towards Vizzini Street to Licodia Euboea. Taking the SP 28i crossing Forget it and once passed by taking the can be reached Lentini, or by taking the and the to Palagonia. Also from Scordia through the to reach Francofonte.

On the train

• 37.277114.78333 Militello station. Its Militello station is located along the route Catania - Caltagirone - Gela.  

By bus

• 37.27699614.7934354 Bus stop, Via Giovanni Verga 10. From Catania (Via Archimede) it is possible to take a bus Interbus. The bus company Molinaro also connects with Castel Di Iudica, Carrubbo, Giumarra, Cinquemara, Ramacca, Palagonia is Forget it (FS). In Castel di Iudica you can change to reach Caltagirone is Paternal. 

How to get around

The city is easily explored on foot.

What see

Churches

• 37.27353614.7934571 Mother Church of San Nicolò and Santissimo Salvatore, Via Matrice, 7, ☎ 39 095 883 8024. It was built starting from 1721 to replace the ancient Basilica Matrice (today called San Nicolò il Vecchio and no longer existing) destroyed by the earthquake of 1693. It was opened for worship in 1740. In 1750 the first order of the facade designed by the architect Girolamo Palazzotto, while in 1765 the second order and the bell tower with an oriental style dome were built by the Catania architect Francesco Battaglia. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was enlarged with the construction of the transept and the apse and in 1904 the dome was raised, the first work in reinforced concrete in eastern Sicily, 30 meters high, which in the forms is inspired by the Catania architecture of the late eighteenth century.

The interior of the church, in the shape of a Latin cross, has three naves divided by five arches supported by twelve pillars with Ionic capitals, the aisles are decorated with refined eighteenth-century stuccoes to which the statues of the four evangelists, made by the sculptor, are added in the spandrels of the dome. Giuseppe D'Arrigo from Catania (1904). In 1950 the frescoes on the vault and apse were painted by fellow citizen Giuseppe Barone, depicting scenes from the life of St. Nicholas and the life of Jesus. The baroque façade of the church, marked by eight large pilasters with high bases and Corinthian capitals, includes the central portal (recovered from the main altar of the old matrix) with coupled columns and a broken arch tympanum and the two side doors, called “del sole” and “della luna” surmounted by windows.

Among the most important works kept inside we find: the large altarpiece of 1761, inside a wooden machine, depicting the Preaching of San Nicolò by Vito D'Anna; some recovered altars including the seventeenth-century chapel of the Pietà da San Nicolò il Vecchio; the valuable statues of St. Nicholas in the chair and Santa Lucia of the seventeenth century (also from the old matrix) and a beautiful Neapolitan sculptural group depicting the Holy Family of 1748. It also houses the valuable wooden effigy of the Holy Savior, Patron of the City , the work of Girolamo Bagnasco from Palermo at the end of the eighteenth century, enriched by an elegant golden fercolo with angels supporting a crown, made in the first decades of the nineteenth century by Corrado Leone from Ragusa.  

• 37.27174614.7934112 Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Stella, Piazza Santa Maria della Stella, 1, ☎ 39 095 883 8058. The Sanctuary was built starting from 1722, to replace the ancient basilica of Santa Maria della Stella destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 (today called Santa Maria la Vetere). It was opened for worship in 1741. The temple, dedicated to the Madonna della Stella, the main patron saint of the city, is located at the top of a large staircase and has a harmonious facade rich in carvings, flanked by a mighty bell tower. The design of the facade is due to the architect Giuseppe Ferrara da Palazzolo Acreide, the valuable eighteenth-century stuccos that decorate the interior are by the Agrigento Onofrio Russo of the Serpotta school. The interior, with a basilica plan with three naves, has twelve altars and is divided by graceful pillars that support the large barrel vault decorated with stucco and frescoed by the Militellese painter Giuseppe Barone (1947). The frescoes on the vault depict: the Presentation in the Temple, LAnnunciation and theCoronation of the Blessed Virgin. Among the numerous masterpieces of art kept in it we find: the precious wooden and hemp statue of the Madonna della Stella (1618), object for centuries of a special cult and devotion, restored in 1693 following the earthquake by the sculptor Camillo Confalone, and enthroned in the days of the annual festival within a rich eighteenth-century wooden fercolo; a grandiose altarpiece by Olivio Sozzi depicting the Nativity of Mary, framed by a wooden machine from 1753; the valuable wooden statue of Christ at the column (1630), attributed to Friar Umile da Petralia but rebuilt in 1693 by Gaetano Frazzetto from Militello; numerous valuable canvases with rich pure wooden frames, such as the one depicting the Martyrdom of San Bartolomeo of 1694; the stone sarcophagi of the feudal lords of the city of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, testimony of the Royal Patronage which the church enjoyed until 1788 and of its antiquity as a sacramental church of the city. The church also preserves the extraordinary glazed terracotta altarpiece by the Florentine sculptor Andrea della Robbia depicting the Nativity of Jesus (1487), coming from Santa Maria la Vetere.  

• 37.27467614.7940643 Monastery of San Benedetto (Municipality of Militello in Val di Catania), Town Hall Square, 7. Wanted by Prince Francesco Branciforte and his wife Giovanna of Austria, and completed by his daughter Margherita, the vast Benedictine complex of Militello was built between 1616 and 1646, based on a design by the monk Valeriano De Franchi, and is characterized by the mannerist layout with notable baroque cues in the carving. In size it is the third Benedictine monastery in Sicily after those of Catania and Monreale. The large and bright interior of the church (now a parish) preserves numerous works of art of exquisite workmanship. The premises of the former monastery, on the other hand, after the expulsion of the monks and the seizure by the Italian State (1866), house the premises of the Municipality and have recently been the subject of architectural recovery and functional enhancement.  

• 37.27235614.7936394 Church of the Blessed Sacrament at the Circolo, Via Umberto I, 8. Votive church built in the second decade of the 18th century, based on a project by the architect from Militello, Don Antonino Scirè Giarro, it was intended for the perpetual exhibition of the Blessed Sacrament. It has a unique Baroque carved façade with a concave profile in Borrominian style, surmounted by a bell-shaped loggia with a fan-shaped profile with three lights. Inside, decorated with elegant late Baroque stuccoes, it preserves the valuable statue with relative fercolo of Sant'Antonio Abate in the chair of 1575, the work of the Bivonese sculptor Antonio De Mauro, coming from the church of S. Antonio Abate. Of particular interest is the predella of the statue of the saint with scenes from his life depicted in relief. A tombstone from 1724 (now on display in the Treasury of S. Maria della Stella) commemorates the spouses Alfio Palermo and Fortunata of the barons Lamia, benefactors of the church, buried here. The church also has two interesting frescoes, on the pillars of the presbytery chapel, depicting the coat of arms of the Bourbons of Naples and Sicily in two different elaborations, of Charles III and Ferdinand III of Sicily. 

• 37.27306114.7980675 Church of Sant'Antonio di Padova (or Sant'Antonino), Via Sant'Antonino, 1. It was built in 1503 through the interest of the brotherhood of the same name, in the place where, according to a local tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua stopped during his journey from Lentini to Vizzini in 1223 (second trip to Sicily). The church, remodeled several times over the centuries, had six Renaissance-style carved chapels, one of which is still visible. In addition to devotion to the titular saint, devotion to the Virgin of Monserrato was cultivated in it, of which a statue was preserved by Matteo Frazzetto in 1583 and then rebuilt in the 1700s (today in the San Nicolò Museum). The presence of a chapel called the Holy Sepulcher, accompanied by a sculptural group in clay depicting the Deposition of Jesus (now missing), and a Maltese cross on the facade suggest a connection between the brotherhood of this church and some Jerusalemite order . The 1574 small dome with a blind hexagonal lantern overlooking the presbytery area (formerly the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher) is quite unique: characterized by a ribbed vault on an octagonal base with angular spandrels with protruding steps, it refers to similar solutions of medieval architecture Sicily, filtered in the light of the new language of the Renaissance imported perhaps, in this case, by Giandomenico and Antonuzzo Gagini active in Militello in those years. 

• 37.27181714.789966 Church of the Most Holy Crucifix at Calvary (Calvary Church), Via del Calvario, 12. The church is mentioned for the first time in a bishop's decree of 1503. It was built for devotional purposes on top of the Caruso hill, in a dominant position with respect to the town, in memory of Golgotha. Later the brotherhood of the SS. Crocifisso al Calvario will take care of it and administer it. In the following century it was enlarged and assumed the shape of a cross with the addition of three apses surmounted by a blind octagonal lantern, as can be seen today. The valuable intaglio chapel with reliquary of the main altar belongs to this building phase. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 (in the collapse many faithful gathered in prayer died), in the mid-18th century it was repaired and enriched with stuccoes, new altars, sacred furnishings and a valuable Crucifix object of particular veneration in Lent. In 1740 the large canvases placed along the walls of the nave were commissioned to the Catania painter Giovanni Meli, depicting: Christ at Calvary (stolen), Christ mocked, Christ scourged and Christ in the garden. In 1762 the Catania architect Francesco Battaglia designed the original portico that closes the façade, under which the famous and evocative rite of the crucifixion and deposition of Jesus takes place on Good Friday every year. 

• 37.27344214.7942317 Church of the Madonna della Catena (Church of S. Maria della Catena), Via Angelo Maiorana, 50. This beautiful church was built in the early 1500s thanks to the devotional initiative of the militellese priest Don Nicola Di Salvo. The building was built near the Barresi summer palace in whose façade there was a votive shrine depicting the Madonna della Catena. The interior is decorated with sumptuous 17th century stuccoes and a fine wooden ceiling.  

• 37.2708914.794338 Confraternity Church of the Guardian Angels (of San Michele Arcangelo), Via Dell'Angelo, 1. Known by the Militellesi simply as the Angel, it was built in 1639 on the initiative of some priests of the city, zealous in works of charity, on the site where a church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel had already stood since the thirteenth century. The old hospital run by the Compagnia dei Bianchi (hospital perhaps originally built by the Knights Templar) was annexed to the latter. Once the hospital was moved to another place and the care of the church by the Company ceased, in 1657 it became the seat of the new Congregation of Maria Santissima degli Agonizzanti, still active today, which had the purpose of offering comfort to the dying and a worthy burial to the indigent. Restored following the earthquake of 1693, the building has fine rococo-style stuccos and a splendid Calatina ceramic floor from 1768 (in 2000 some tiles from the floor were stolen). The church also has two paintings depicting the Archangels Michael and Raphael and a positive organ from the early 1700s, now moved to Santa Maria della Stella for safety reasons. 

• 37.27162914.7945739 Confraternity church of San Sebastiano, Via Porta della Terra, 42/44. Mentioned for the first time in 1504, it was the seat of the homonymous brotherhood connected perhaps to the Order of Malta (as can be seen from a sign on the facade). In 1572 it became a destination for devotees and pilgrims who acclaimed San Sebastiano martyr, co-patron of Militello, for having freed the city from the scourge of the plague. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1693, it was rebuilt in 1702 incorporating the portal of the sixteenth-century church into the facade. It has three altars in all and the main altar preserves the statue of San Sebastiano with wooden fercolo, framed by a magnificent stone chapel with baroque style carving from 1708. Other furnishings, vestments and sacred furnishings, including the silver reliquary of San Sebastiano, are exhibited in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella. A stone relief still visible today inside the church refers to the legend of the Rosicrucians. 

• 37.27041114.79715910 Confraternity church of the Holy Souls of Purgatory (Church of the Purgatory), Largo Purgatorio. Dedicated to Saints Vitus and Gregory the Great, but better known as the Purgatory, it was built in 1613 to replace the old church of San Vito, located elsewhere and now in ruins. The elegant 1690 intaglio façade is due to Giacomo Barone from Militello. Partially damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was immediately repaired. With a single nave and three altars in all, it is decorated inside with precious and sumptuous polychrome stuccoes with allegorical figures and has a grandiose stepped high altar in pure gilded wood, surmounted by a throne for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The altar was completed by a valuable altarpiece depicting the Mass of San Gregorio (1619) by Alfio Marotta, recently stolen. In one of the two side altars there is a statue of San Vito Martire by the sculptor Domenico Barone from 1680. The church also has a beautiful choir decorated with carving where the organ is placed. 
• 37.27405814.79028511 Church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo (Madonna dello Spasimo Church), Largo dell'Addolorata, 9A. Originally only a rock chapel located in the upper part of the city towards the west, mentioned in an act of 1517. In it the bishops of Syracuse on a pastoral visit to Militello wore papal robes, being it along the ancient route that connected Militello to Mineo, Vizzini is Caltagirone. It was replaced by a new masonry church in 1568, located a short distance from the old one. This was not damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and today has a beautiful intaglio portal (probably made by the workers working in the city, in the mid-18th century, following Francesco Battaglia), graceful eighteenth-century stuccoes and the venerated simulacra of Our Lady of Sorrows and of the Madonna dell ' Help. 

• 37.27069814.79401612 Church and former female Benedictine monastery of San Giovanni Battista (Church of San Giovanni Battista or the Badìa), Via Tipografia Rossi, 22. Of medieval foundation, the Benedictine female monastic complex of San Giovanni Battista was endowed around 1470 by Countess Eleonora Speciale, widow of Baron Blasco II Barresi di Militello, daughter of the viceroy of Sicily Niccolò Speciale and of Beatrice Landolina who retired here in recent years of his life. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693 and later restored, it still retains some of the original structures, such as a beautiful Renaissance style portal. Like all the other monasteries in Sicily, it suffered the effects of the subversive laws of 1866 which transferred ownership of the building to the Italian state. Subsequently, the monastery was sold to private individuals who built houses from it, while the church was redeemed and sold to the Parish of Santa Maria della Stella. The single nave is embellished with a beautiful eighteenth-century floor in Calatina majolica with serial design and has three altars in all, in addition to the nuns' choir in the choir loft. In the main altar there is an eighteenth-century statue of St. John the Baptist, once protected by a canvas depicting the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan (now in Santa Maria della Stella). The other two altars instead exhibited two beautiful canvases by Alessandro Comparetto depicting the Nativity of San Giovanni (1631) and the Beheading of San Giovanni (1634) respectively. For safety reasons, the canvases, together with other sacred furnishings (including a 15th century pyx and a frontal in gold threads), are now kept in the Treasury of Santa Maria della Stella. 

• 37.2734914.79518713 Church and former female Benedictine monastery of Sant'Agata, Piazza Sant'Agata. The church and the first enclosure were built at the beginning of the 16th century, thanks to the offers of devout militellesi who wished to erect a church dedicated to the martyr from Catania in their city. A "district of Sant'Agata" is mentioned in an act of the notary Matteo Mancarello di Militello of 1514. This initiative, a few decades later, was taken up by the lords of the city who endowed the enclosure and used it as a boarding school for "poor old maids". Partly damaged by the earthquake of 1693, the monastery was repaired and enlarged in 1695 by Prince Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte, Marquis of Militello, who installed the cloister of the Benedictine nuns there. The facade of the church was instead rebuilt in the late eighteenth century in neoclassical intaglio, but remained incomplete. In 1869, he expelled the nuns following the abolition of religious orders by the Italian state, the monastery premises were sold to private individuals who built their homes (some structures of the ancient monastery are still visible on the back from a courtyard in via Clausura) , the church instead was redeemed and transferred of ownership to the matrix. The interior with a hall, essential in the decorations, houses the precious seventeenth-century chapel of the high altar in polychrome stone in the Mannerist style (similar to the chapel of the main altar of the church of Purgatory and the chapel of the Nativity of Santa Maria la Vetere), this it frames the statue with fercolo of the Madonna delle Grazie. The seventeenth-century statues of Sant'Agata and San Benedetto are also kept inside. Then there are still the beautiful grate in the choir that closed the choir of the nuns and an eighteenth-century pipe organ from the shop of the Platania of Acireale. 
• 37.27313814.79214414 Church and former Augustinian convent of San Leonardo Abate, via Sortino. Dedicated to the hermit saint of Noblac, the church was built in the mid-16th century as the seat of a brotherhood. Subsequently the Brancifortas wanted to place a monastery next to it to transfer the Reformed Augustinian friars of the Sicilian Centorbina Congregation who until then had been housed in a small convent outside the city (today called the Conventazzu). The works were completed in 1630 and the following year the friars moved there. The church and convent were not damaged by the earthquake of 1693. However, following the suppression of the ecclesiastical bodies in 1866, the church fell into disuse (also due to the lowering of the road level which made access impossible), while the premises of the convent were used as public schools until the 50s of the twentieth century. The whole complex is now in ruins. The seventeenth-century stuccoes and the remains of the main altar inside are barely visible from the church. On the outside, the front door of the entrance has a frieze with the monogram of Christ inscribed in a sun with twelve rays and an epigraph with the dedication to the titular saint dated 1638. There was kept a beautiful seventeenth-century statue depicting San Leonardo Abate, a refined '400 Madonna di Trapani in alabaster and numerous other works of art (canvases, marbles and sacred furnishings) now exhibited at the San Nicolò Museum. A papier-mâché statue depicting Santa Monica (mother of St. Augustine) was modified to represent the more popular Santa Rita (Augustinian nun) and placed in the mother church of San Nicola. 

• 37.2721814.79390415 Church and former convent of San Domenico dei Frati Pedicatori (Municipal Auditorium), Via Vincenzo Natale, 2. The Dominican friars arrived in Militello in 1536, at the behest of the Barresi, and settled here at the Annunziata church outside the city, remaining there until the early 1600s. Subsequently, Prince Francesco Branciforte, to facilitate control over the population by the Holy Inquisition, wanted to transfer the seat of the Dominicans to the city, and had them build the new church and the new convent which were inaugurated in 1613. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, both were soon redone. The church that can be seen today, one of the largest in Militello, is characterized by a large classical façade, with a spire tympanum, and a hall-like interior, decorated with stuccoes, with a deep presbytery. Inside it housed six carved stone chapels, among which that of the Madonna del Rosario with a painting by Mario Minniti dated 1620 (now lost) stood out. Although the convent and the church suffered the effects of the suppression of 1866, the latter remained in operation until the mid-1900s, when it was now unsafe and was definitively stripped of all its furnishings and abandoned (some surviving works are in Santa Maria della Stella and in San Benedetto). The premises of the convent instead housed a kindergarten (Asilo Laganà Campisi), schools and private homes. Fortunately, the entire complex was recovered and enhanced in the early 2000s. The church is now used as a Municipal Auditorium, while the former convent houses a conference room, the "Angelo Majorana" Municipal Library, the Civic Museum, the Historical Archive and the "Sebastiano Guzzone" Civic Art Gallery. 

• 37.2744914.799416 Church and former convent of San Francesco d'Assisi of the Conventual Friars Minor (or of the Immaculate Conception), via Principe Branciforte. According to an ancient tradition, supported by documentary evidence, the convent was founded in 1235 by friar Paolo da Venezia, a disciple of San Francesco d'Assisi, and remained in operation until the suppression of 1866. It was one of the first Franciscan convents in Sicily. Rebuilt several times following calamitous events and the wear and tear of time, today only the church remains, as the entire convent building, now dilapidated and unsafe, was demolished in 1964. essential in form, only the cistern compartment, some corbels connecting the colonnaded portico of the cloister and a room used today as a sacristy (presbyterial area of ​​the church pre-earthquake of 1693) can be identified. The church, on the other hand, has a simple portal with a carved window on the façade and graceful neoclassical stuccoes inside. In the past it was embellished with various canvases (some by Filippo Paladini) depicting mainly Franciscan saints, today transferred to the "San Nicolò" Museum for reasons of safety and better use. On 8 December of each year, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated, of which there is a valuable polychrome wooden statue made in 1693 by the sculptor Camillo Confalone. 

• 37.27501714.80001717 Church and convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli of the Capuchin Friars, via Principe Branciforte. The convent of the Capuchin friars of Militello was built in 1575 by Caterina Barresi, a few years after the death of her brother Vincenzo, first marquis of Militello. A small church already existed next to the convent but was rebuilt in 1582. The building withstood the shocks of 1693, the few ruined parts were rebuilt and completed in 1709. The single-nave church has several carved chapels and an extraordinary high altar in wood that frames the superb altarpiece with Santa Maria degli Angeli and six saints painted in 1612 by Filippo Paladini. The altarpiece also hides a rich 1777 carving reliquary with over five hundred relics of saints. In an altar of the church the body of San Feliciano Martire is exhibited, transferred here from Rome. In the past the convent was the seat of the novitiate and hosted several provincial chapters of the Order. In this church, near the altar of the Madonna, is buried the Servant of God Father Biagio da Caltanissetta (1634-1684), a Capuchin preacher, famous in life for numerous miracles. Following the suppression of 1866, the building passed to the state property but was redeemed. Until the early 80s of the twentieth century it was still inhabited by the friars. Today for lack of religious the church, property of the Capuchin Province of Syracuse, is entrusted to the religious of the Capuchin convent of Augusta (SR), who celebrate Mass there once a month. The convent, on the other hand, is entrusted on loan for use to a private welfare organization. The convent library is also of considerable importance, as well as other works of art such as eight original frontals in painted and gilded leather kept today at the Capuchin Museum in Caltagirone. 

• 37.27764414.79505818 Church and former convent of San Francesco di Paola all'Annunziata dei Frati Minimi, Piazzale Pasqualina Galeazzi, 71. Initially dedicated to Maria SS. Annunziata, this church was commissioned by the baron of Militello Antonio Piero Barresi around 1480. A few decades later, between 1503 and 1515, it was considerably enlarged and a monastery was added to it where the Dominican friars settled. In 1613 the Dominicans moved to the new convent built for them in the center of the city, and the Minimal Friars of San Francesco di Paola settled in their place. The latter wanted to name the church after their founder and rebuild the monastery, remaining there until 1866, the year in which the complex was seized by the Italian state and passed to the Municipality of Militello, which in turn ceded it to the Congregation of Charity to use it as a hospital. The church of the beginning of the 16th century, with a single nave, presented on the outside a portico supported by columns under which the Glory of Paradise and the Penis of Purgatory were depicted in the fresco; inside it had three richly carved white stone chapels. Damaged by the earthquake of 1693, it was repaired and decorated with simple and graceful carvings on the facade and fine late-Baroque stuccoes inside, still visible today. Only the stuccoes on the main altar, which frame the statue of San Francesco di Paola, are prior to the earthquake. Numerous works of art, precious vestments and sacred furnishings were preserved in this church, also due to the patronage exercised there by the lords of the city, in particular: a beautiful table of 1552 by Francesco Frazzetto from Militello depicting the Annunciation; a canvas with Sant'Isidoro Agricola dated 1630 by the militellese artist Giovan Battista Baldanza jr .; a small throne in gilded wood donated in 1718 by the Prince of Butera and Marquis of Militello Nicolò Placido III Branciforte. Many of these works of art are now exhibited at the "San Nicolò" Museum. The church, which remained in operation until the early 2000s, is today in a state of neglect and needs urgent restoration. 

• Church of Santa Barbara (located opposite the oldest districts of the city (San Vito, Santa Maria la Vetere)). It is a large rock church in a dominant position with respect to a high-medieval rock settlement distributed on several levels, which takes its name from the title of the church. Originally probably only a tomb, the cave was enlarged and used differently over the centuries. Inside the church, elements attributable to religious use are rare and now compromised, such as some niches and an altar excavated on the south wall. 

• Church of Santa Maria della Scala. This small church was built inside a natural cave on the side of a cliff south of the town; until the end of the 19th century, the feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple was celebrated here on November 21 of each year. The altar and the vault of the ashlars ceiling remain of it. 
• Benedictine church and monastery of the Pirate. It was the first monastery of Militello. According to Rocco Pirro (1577 - 1651), it was built in 1154 at the behest of Manfredi Del Vasto count of Butera, son of Simone del Vasto count of the Lombards of Sicily (nephew of Adelaide del Vasto wife of the great count of Sicily Ruggero I) . The monastery was built not far from the old town and was entrusted to the Benedictine monks. The foundation of the monastery of Militello was also part of the Latinization policy of Sicily favored by the immigration of Lombard people and the introduction of religious orders linked to the Church of Rome and the Latin language. The place where the monastery was built took the name of "Cava dei Monaci". Non si conosce il periodo in cui chiesa e monastero furono abbandonati. 

Chiese extraurbane

• Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie fuori le mura, Contrada Madonna delle Grazie. Fu costruita nel 1504 per volere della nobile Costanza Barresi e Speciale, figlia di Blasco II Barresi barone di Militello. Edificata fuori l'abitato, era situata sulla vecchia strada che collegava Militello a Scordia e Lentini. Risparmiata dal terremoto del 1693, conserva ancora l'originale sacrestia con volta a tutto sesto in pietra levigata. Nel 1866 subì un radicale rifacimento e fu riaperta al culto il primo settembre dello stesso anno con una solenne cerimonia presieduta dall'arciprete parroco don Francesco Caltabiano. Fino a qualche anno fa era ancora leggibile l'immagine della Madonna delle Grazie dipinta all'interno di un'edicola sul fianco Est. Il 2 luglio di ogni anno è meta di un devoto e partecipato pellegrinaggio cittadino. 

• 37.2529714.75660219 Chiesa della Santa Croce (in cima ad un alto colle (680 m) sulla vecchia strada che collegava Militello a Mineo). Fu edificata a metà del '400. Se ne raccontano le origini leggendarie, ma più verosimilmente fu fatta edificare dai Barresi, signori della città, con lo scopo di marcare i confini del loro territorio, oltre che per assicurare i sacramenti ai contadini residenti in quelle contrade. Parzialmente crollata nell'Ottocento, e rifatta agli inizi del Novecento, la piccola chiesa conserva ancora oggi alcune strutture originarie: l'arcata presbiteriale a sesto ribassato su cui s'imposta una volta a crociera costolonata sorretta da mensole di gusto tardogotico; sull'altare un affresco, più volte rimaneggiato e ormai molto danneggiato, raffigurante il Trionfo della Santa Croce. Il primo maggio di ogni anno vi si celebra la Santa Messa con concorso di popolo. La festa, menzionata già dalla fine del Cinquecento, un tempo si celebrava il tre maggio. 
• Chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso al Franco. Situata a ridosso del greto del torrente Iatrini, lungo la provinciale per Catania, se ne ha notizia a partire dal XVIII secolo. Al suo interno, in corrispondenza dell'altare (rimosso), presenta un'immagine dipinta molto rovinata raffigurante il Crocifisso tra gli apostoli Pietro e Paolo. Oggi versa in stato di abbandono. 

• 37.24392814.78982920 Chiesa del Conventazzu e fortificazioni greche, Contrada Bognanni. Situata fuori dell'abitato, era dedicata a San Michele. Era annessa al romitorio che ospitò i frati Agostiniani fino al loro trasferimento in città (sec. XVII). Le rovine che attualmente si vedono sono del Cinquecento. Il complesso monastico era impostato sui resti di una fortificazione greca, ancora visibile. 
• Chiesa di Santa Maria Annunziata di Fuori (contrada Annunziata a 3 km circa dall'abitato di Militello verso Scordia). Fino alla fine del XV secolo vi ci si recava in pellegrinaggio il 25 marzo e il mercoledì dopo Pasqua di ogni anno, offrendo l'occasione per svago e giochi campestri che però spesso degeneravano in risse. Il divieto dei signori della città a proseguire questa tradizione determinò l'oblio della chiesa. Oggi di questo luogo di culto, che ricade in un podere privato recintato, sono visibili discreti resti in muratura risalenti verosimilmente al '500. 

Palazzi

• 37.2722914.79301121 Palazzo Baldanza (ex Caruso della Sanzà e di Rossitto), Via Giambattista Baldanza, 1/A. Fu costruito nel XVIII secolo e occupa un intero isolato. Presenta sei balconi con ricche mensole a mascheroni e festoni nelle lesene. È arricchito da un giardino lussureggiante oggi cinto da un muro. Appartenne alla nobile famiglia Caruso, il cui ramo principale si estinse alla fine del XVIII sec., con il barone don Antonino Caruso morto senza figli; mentre il ramo secondario nei primi anni del XIX sec., con donna Marianna Caruso-Scuderi, sposata con Antonino Malgioglio e Cardaci di Ramacca. 
• 37.27456314.79339722 Palazzo Baldanza-Denaro (ex Campisi), Via Senatore Maiorana, 5. Fu costruito a inizio XVII secolo. È attualmente sede dell'Associazione Turistica "Pro Loco". Anch'esso presenta balconi decorati da ricchi intagli barocchi nelle mensole e nelle lesene. Appartenne alla signora Denaro, vedova Basso La Bianca. 

• 37.27113214.79394823 Palazzo Iatrini, Via Iatrini, 6. È una splendida dimora gentilizia del 1717. All'esterno offre un magnifico balcone sorretto da ricche mensole a intaglio con maschere. All'interno presenta numerosi ambienti, comprendenti anche una corte con cisterna e un giardino. Appartenne all'antica famiglia militellese degli Iatrini che vide in molti suoi esponenti illustri giuristi e religiosi, come Mons. Alfio Iatrini, priore della cattedrale di Catania e Mons. Can. Iatrini Dott. Francesco, Cameriere Segreto Soprannumerario di Sua Santità e Vicario Foraneo di Militello. L'ultima esponente della famiglia, nel 1995, donò l'intero stabile al Santuario di S. Maria della Stella. 

• 37.27218914.79321624 Palazzo Iatrini-Troia (ex Costantino, ex Reforgiato di Linziti), Via Porta della Terra, 2. La sua costruzione fu completata nel 1771, e presenta sei balconi con cornici e mensole tardo-barocche. Voluto dal barone Reforgiato di Linziti, passò in seguito ai Costantino per poi pervenire agli Iatrini. Venne adibito fino agli anni 60 del XX sec. a sede della Agenzia delle Imposte e successivamente a casa religiosa. Oggi è di proprietà della parrocchia S. Maria della Stella. 
• 37.2735214.79395425 Palazzo Liggieri (ex Reforgiato), via Umberto I angolo piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Si tratta di un grande edificio che chiude per un intero lato piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Oltre che per le dimensioni, questo edificio del XVIII secolo si caratterizza per i notevoli intagli barocchi dei balconi e del grande portale bugnato sormontato dallo stemma gentilizio. 

• 37.27196114.79378726 Palazzo Majorana della Nicchiara (o "dei Leoni"), Via Porta della Terra, 58 (dirimpetto la piazza di Santa Maria della Stella). Rara testimonianza dell'edilizia civile di epoca cinquecentesca, l'enorme edificio fu voluto dai Barresi come sede della corte giuratoria e della corte capitanale (i due principali organi di amministrazione della città). Sebbene rimaneggiato in epoche successive, e trasferito più volte di proprietà (tra cui i Majorana-Cocuzzella baroni della Nicchiara), presenta gli originali cantonali a bugnato, arricchiti da severi leoni in pietra di età medievale recuperati da edifici più antichi. 
• 37.27269514.79315727 Palazzo Niceforo, Via Giambattista Baldanza, 25. Costruito nel XVIII secolo, presenta un ricchissimo portale a telamoni. È uno degli esempi più belli dell'edilizia aristocratica del post-terremoto. 

• 37.2720714.79350728 Palazzo Oliva (ex Tinnirello, ex Interlandi di Bellaprima), Via Porta della Terra, 62. Risale ai secoli XVII-XVIIII. Presenta un'elegante finestra ad intaglio, di stile manierista, sul cui timpano è collocato uno stemma araldico in marmo. Appartenuto dapprima alla famiglia calatina degli Interlandi principi di Bellaprima (vi abitò il parroco di San Nicola don Lorenzo Interlandi), nella prima metà del '700 passò all'illustre famiglia militellese dei Tinnirello che vi abitò fino al 1921, ospitandovi al piano terra l'omonima farmacia, e infine alla famiglia Oliva. 
• Palazzo Guttadauro di Reburdone, via Reburdone. Questo edificio di severo stile manierista sopravvisse in parte al terremoto del 1693. Appartenne dapprima ai Ciccaglia e quindi ai baroni Guttadauro di Reburdone (originari di Vizzini) a seguito del matrimonio tra donna Pietra Antonia Ciccaglia e don Gaetano Guttadauro (1678). I Guttadauro si trasferirono successivamente a Catania dove assursero alla dignità di principi. 
• Palazzo Rejna dell'Aere del Conte, via Pietro Carrera. Questo grande palazzo dalle forme severe, con spunti neoclassici, risale alla fine del XVIII secolo. 
• 37.27330114.79451929 Palazzo Sciannaca, Via Pietro Carrera, 17. Fu costruito nel XIX secolo in forme classiche, nello stesso luogo dove sorgeva l'antico palazzo d'estate dei Barresi. Nel 1936 vi nasce Pippo Baudo. 
• Palazzo Tineo, via San Sebastiano. Elegante palazzetto ricco di intagli barocchi, risale al XVII secolo. 

Parco Archeologico di S. Maria la Vetere

• 37.27103314.79753630 Chiesa di Santa Maria la Vetere, Via Concerie, 18. Fu fondata in età normanna (fine sex. XI) sul sito di un cimitero cristiano di età più antica. Fu per secoli la parrocchia dei feudatari della città e dei militellesi legati per lingua o condizione socio-economica al gruppo etnico dominante, costituito inizialmente da Normanni e Lombardi venuti nell'isola a seguito della conquista, o immigrati nei decenni successivi e naturalizzati come sudditi del Regno di Sicilia accanto ai precedenti gruppi etnici di siculo-greci, arabi ed ebrei. Distrutta e ricostruita più volte nel corso dei secoli, venne dismessa nell'esercizio delle funzioni parrocchiali per i danni riportati a seguito del terremoto del 1693.  
• Necropoli di Santa Maria la Vetere. Necropoli annessa alla chiesa. 

• Torre Normanna (sul fianco Nord della chiesa di Santa Maria la Vetere). La torre suggerisce l'originario legame fra i due edifici, rivelando la natura castrale del luogo di culto in età normanna. Ormai soltanto un rudere, la torre riflette la tipologia del dongione anglo-normanno (XI-XII sec.), e la sua duplice funzione residenziale e difensiva. Si tratta di una costruzione quadrangolare di circa 10 metri per 9 metri di lato, distribuita su più ordini di piani fino ad un'altezza ipotizzata di circa 20 metri, parecchio somigliante nella planimetria e tipologia realizzativa ai coevi edifici fortificati di Motta S. Anastasia, Milazzo ("Torre Saracena"), Scicli ("Castellaccio") e Brucato. Il piano terreno è addossato al fianco roccioso della collina, e al suo interno custodisce una interessante camera ipogea più antica, probabilmente una tomba di età greca, come si evincerebbe da un'iscrizione in greco arcaico presente in una parete; il primo piano, invece, sostenuto da una volta a botte in conci di pietra, presenta un'ampia finestra a Nord, con larga mensola. Del secondo piano sopravvive un brano del muro Est, e alcuni gradini della scala a chiocciola di raccordo, ricavati all'interno del muro perimetrale. Trascurata a seguito della costruzione più a monte del castello Barresi-Branciforte (XIV-XVII sec.), la torre fu successivamente adibita ad ossario della parrocchia di Santa Maria della Stella, circostanza che ha oscurato del tutto, nella storiografia locale, il ricordo della sua primitiva funzione militare, in relazione alle origini normanne di Militello. 

• 37.27104614.79723531 Church of the Holy Spirit (Chiesa Rupestre dello Spirito Santo) (Parco Archeologico di S. Maria la Vetere.). Si tratta di una cappella rupestre scavata in un fianco della cava di S. Maria la Vetere, ormai definitivamente compromessa nel suo originario assetto ipogeo da ampi crolli. L'assenza di notizie storiche ha incoraggiato gli studiosi a elaborare le ipotesi più diverse circa le sue originarie funzioni cultuali (catacomba paleocristiana; chiesa bizantina; cappella teutonica), ma verosimilmente fu realizzata in età normanna (XII sec.) come oratorio di pertinenza dell'attiguo complesso rupestre di S. Maria la Vetere. Le pareti interne sono caratterizzate da una serie ininterrotta di nicchie scavate nella roccia, che originariamente servivano da spalliere per seggi (una sorta di stallo rupestre). Alcune di queste nicchie presentano incisioni con croci e simboli riconducibili ai Templari. Nella parete Sud, si trova un altare ricavato interamente nella roccia, sotto cui si aprono delle tombe a fossa, che dimostrano anche un uso funerario della chiesa. L'abate Vito Maria Amico, nella metà del '700, vedeva ancora delle pitture di cui oggi non rimane alcuna traccia. Negli ultimi secoli è stata ininterrottamente utilizzata come cripta cimiteriale e ossario.  

Other

• 37.27127314.79542732 Castello Barresi Branciforte, Largo Atrio del Castello, 1. Costruito nel XIV secolo, e ingrandito più volte successivamente, era in parte addossato al circuito delle mura medievali e separato da un fossato sul lato Ovest. Gravemente danneggiato dal catastrofico terremoto del 1693, negli anni del governo del marchese Carlo Maria Carafa Branciforte, il castello fu solo in parte riparato. Nel corso del '700 è solo di rado utilizzato dai signori in occasione di qualche visita. A inizio '900 l'edificio, ormai abbandonato, è stato diviso e venduto a privati che ne hanno ricavato abitazioni, alterandone l'insieme con superfetazioni o smantellamenti. Dell'imponente costruzione oggi rimangono soltanto: la porta d'ingresso alla corte Sud (detta Porta della Terra, con riferimento al quartiere Terra Vecchia di cui il castello faceva parte), la fontana della Ninfa Zizza, due torri cilindriche con le sale adiacenti, i grandi vani del trappeto per la molitura delle olive, l'estremità Sud della "galleria" dove era collocata la biblioteca e qualche brano murario della cortina Nord. A Sud del castello, in asse con la Porta della Terra, sopravvive una delle porte secondarie delle mura medievali della città, la Porta del "Bastione".  

• 37.271214.7953933 Porta della Terra, Via del Castello. Antica porta annessa agli edifici del castello. 
• 37.27106414.79579534 Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, Largo Atrio del Castello. Venne edificata nel 1607 nella corte Sud del castello per celebrare la realizzazione del primo acquedotto di Militello, voluto dal principe Francesco Branciforte. Di forme manieriste con vasca ottagonale, in essa si ammirava il pregevole bassorilievo in marmo raffigurante la Ninfa Zizza di Giandomenico Gagini. Il bassorilievo originario, al fine della sua maggiore tutela, è stato sostituito da una copia in gesso. 
• Qanat. 

• 37.28989414.801635 Necropoli di Castelluzzo (Necropoli di Castelluccio) (raggiungibile per mezzo di una comoda carraia che si diparte dalla SP 28i, a poche centinaia di metri dal bivio con la ). Necropoli databile dall’Età del Bronzo (III-II millennio a.C.) all’Età del Ferro (X-VIII sec. a.C.). Le tombe hanno caratteristiche diverse: alcune hanno cella a pianta ellittica e soffitto a volta, altre invece, cella a pianta ellittica o quadrangolare e soffitto piano. Tutte con deposizioni multiple. 
• Necropoli di Oxina. 
• 37.2689614.80099236 Necropoli di Santa Barbara. 
• Cùbburo, C.da Catalfaro. Si tratta di un piccolo edificio in pietra a secco in forma di tholos tipico della Sicila e diffuso in poche località. Erano dei rifugi protettivi e sono un importante elemento architettonico della tradizione, le cui origini si perdono nei secoli. 

Museums

• Museo d'arte sacra "San Nicolò", Piazzale Arciprete B.G. Bellino. Inaugurato nel 1985, è ospitato all'interno delle antiche cripte di sepoltura della chiesa madre. Il suggestivo allestimento sottolinea il valore e la bellezza degli oggetti esposti: una ricca collezione di paramenti liturgici dei secoli XVII-XVIII; numerose statue di santi provenienti dalle chiese filiali della matrice; i tesori di alcune chiese e conventi cittadini, tra cui gli argenti della chiesa di Santa Maria della Catena e gioielli votivi dell'Arciconfraternita del SS. Crocifisso al Calvario; gli ex voto ed il corredo liturgico della chiesa di Sant'Agata. Chiude la visita la pinacoteca con la pala della Annunciazione di Francesco Frazzetto (1555); l'Attentato a San Carlo Borromeo del toscano Filippo Paladini (1612), caratterizzato da un certo luminismo caravaggesco e la seicentesca tela dell'Estasi di San Francesco (Filippo Paladini), il Miracolo di Sant'Antonio del Candrilli, la dolce Immacolata di Francesco Vaccaro; molte altre tele e manufatti d'arte sacra. 

• Tesoro di Santa Maria della Stella, V.C, piazza Santa Maria, 19, ☎ 39 095 655329. Inaugurato nel 1995, espone numerose e preziose opere d'arte: sacre suppellettili in argento (XV-XVIII sec.) provenienti dalla chiesa parrocchiale e dalle sue chiese filiali; il corredo in argento e oro della statua della Madonna della Stella; ex voto in oro; paramenti in seta e oro e apparati di damasco (sec. XVII-XVIII); immagini sacre tra cui un San Paolo del XVI sec.; un notevole bassorilievo di Domenico Gagini raffigurante il viceré di Sicilia Pietro Speciale (1468); il monumentale polittico quattrocentesco raffigurante San Pietro in cattedra e storie della sua vita, variamente attribuito ad Antonello da Messina o al Maestro della Croce di Piazza Armerina; un dipinto di Vito D'Anna raffigurante l'Immacolata, oltre ad altre tele di pregio come una Madonna della Stella di Giacinto Platania (sec. XVII). 

Events and parties

• San Benedetto Abate. 11 luglio. 
• Santissimo Salvatore. 18 agosto. 
• Madonna della Stella. September 8. 
• Sagra della mostarda e del ficodindia. October. 

What to do

Escursioni

• 37.29024914.7930271 Cava del Carcarone. Si tratta di uno spettacolare, profondo e articolato canyon situato ad Est dell'abitato, ben visibile dai tornanti della provinciale 28/I per Scordia (CT). Diverse cavità presenti lungo le alti pareti rocciose del canyon, in età preistorica, hanno offerto l'occasione per la formazione di insediamenti umani. Grande interesse geologico riveste nel sito la presenza di estesi banchi di coralli fossili. 

• 37.248114.8012 Cascate dell'Oxena (Cascate dell'Ossena) (a Sud del territorio di Militello al confine con Francofonte, raggiungibili tramite la SP 28ii Militello-Vizzini Scalo bivio per Francofonte). Si tratta di piccole cascate naturali incastonate in un bellissimo contesto ambientale, caratterizzato da un corso d'acqua e dalla presenza di olivastri, carrubi, querce, ficodindia, tamerici e oleandri. Le acque sono alimentate in regime permanente dal fiume Ossena (o Oxena). L'Ossena è un affluente del Trigona il quale a sua volta si versa in parte nel lago di Lentini e in parte nel San Leonardo (fiume che attraversa la Piana di Catania e sfocia nel mar Ionio). Le rocce basaltiche ne caratterizzano l'alveo sono affascinanti, specie nelle stagioni calde a causa del refrigerio che offrono. La visita di queste cascate permette di godere di un ambiente inusuale, formato da cave verdeggianti e pianori assolati: si percorre il fondo di una di queste cave, sotto una galleria vegetale che funge da volta, e si perlustra controcorrente il fiume che non è mai profondo. Le Cascate dell'Ossena costituiscono oggi uno degli ambienti naturali più integri e affascinanti degli Iblei catanesi.  

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Il prodotto più conosciuto di Militello è il ficodindia, che eccelle in questo comprensorio per varietà e caratteristiche organolettiche. Altri prodotti gastronomici tipici:

• Cassatelline di Militello (della "zia monaca" o cassatiddini da za' monaca). Vera e propria prelibatezza dolciaria, le cassatelline di Militello sono cestini di pasta frolla sfogliata di forma quadrata (tra gli ingredienti farina, uova, zucchero, sugna), riempiti con un impasto di mandorle spellate, confettura di frutta, cioccolato, liquore, cannella e chiodi di garofano, il tutto decorato con glassa bianca asciugata al forno. Per la loro preparazione sono necessari tre giorni di lavorazione. Almeno tre laboratori dolciari ne assicurano giornalmente la produzione e la vendita. 
• Mostaccioli (mastrazzola). Dolci invernali a tocchetti caramellati, ricavati da un impasto tostato al forno di vino cotto, farina, zucchero e aromi. 
• Fasciatelli ('nfasciateddi). Dolci natalizi che consistono di un impasto morbido di farina, mandorle tostate, miele e chiodi di garofano, avvolto in fettuccine di pasta frolla. Il tutto caramellato in pentola con zucchero e buccia di limone. 
• Pipirata. È preparata con vino cotto di ficodindia, riso, pinoli e aromi (ne esiste una variante moderna, che prevede l'aggiunta di scaglie di cioccolato, mandorle e nocciole). 
• Muscardini. Noti altrove come ossa dei morti; giammelli, biscotti soffici di forma quadrata ricoperti di glassa; crispelle, qua preparate con purea di patate, farina, zucchero e cannella. 

Where stay

Safety

• 37.27729914.7957475 Presidio Ospedaliero di Militello, Viale Regina Margherita, 25, ☎ 39 095 794 3047. 

How to keep in touch

Around

• 37.3108414.788386 Necropoli di Piano Maenza. 
• Vizzini
• Mineo
• Lentini

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Militello in Val di Catania
• Commons contains images or other files on Militello in Val di Catania

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